Writings on the Piano
by Kiheada.Ray.T
Summary: Athrun is a detective investigating the murder of his best friend, Nicol Amarfi. But when he discovers who the real killer is, will he be able to go through with the investigation along with his marriage? AthrunxKira. AU retelling of Nicol's death.
1. Chapter 1: The Body

**Writings on the Piano**

**Chapter 1: The Body**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Gundam Seed or the characters, I do, however, own the plot to this particular story because I came up with it. I didn't steal it and neither should you.**

**WARNING: This is a tragedy/mystery story and should be treated as such. There is a character death and many twists/events you might not find suitable. I will not accept any flames based on the violence or turnout of this fiction, if you have any complaints, this is your warning ahead of time. Thank you.**

* * *

"Hey Athrun?" a young man asked. He had light green hair and bright, honey-colored eyes. He had a youthfully handsome face and was twenty-three years old.

"What Nicol?" the blue-haired man answered. Athrun Zala had dark blue hair with emerald eyes, a strange yet attractive combination. He too had a youthful and handsome countenance, accompanied at the moment with a smile.

"Are you ever going to propose to Kira? Or do I have to do that for you as well, my friend?" Nicol asked; a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

Athrun blushed and looked down at his feet. They were sitting at the beach on a nice, hot day in ORB. The aforementioned Kira was off getting them some snacks at the vendor down the street.

"I was actually planning on asking him tonight." Athrun said quietly, almost murmuring.

Nicol smiled at his friend with overwhelming joy. "Good for you! I'm glad, Athrun, really I am." He said.

"Yeah, yeah. I still don't know how I can thank you. I mean, if it weren't for you, Kira would probably have married Lacus and I would have probably married Cagalli; not that there's really anything wrong with that, I enjoy Cagalli's company, it's just…" he trailed off.

"You love Kira more. Everyone has the right to love and be with whoever they want to be. It's just that other people look down on anything out of the ordinary. You just can't let that get to you." Nicol finished for him.

Athrun looked back to his friend. "Yeah I know."

A few months before, Nicol had noticed that both Kira and Athrun had feelings for each other; feelings more profound than simple friendship. Being best friends with each other for so long had formed a bond between them stronger than any other friendship they had; and also a bond of love.

When Nicol discovered this he went to them separately to see if they were willing to express their feelings towards each other. At first they resisted, rejecting the idea that the other could possibly love them as much as they did. But after time, more talks, and a few haphazard yet comical dates, they ended up realizing their true feelings and expressed them.

They've been going out ever since, happy and content with their lives. Cagalli, Athrun's former girlfriend, and Lacus, Kira's former girlfriend, couldn't have been happier that the two boys finally released their hidden feelings for each other, it was like a fairytale ending- or beginning, you could say.

"So how can I thank you, Nicol? Do you need a new piano? Are there any concerts you'd like to see? Any records or CDs that you'd like to have?" Athrun asked again.

Nicol was big on the classical music of the Renaissance and loved to play the piano. He was very good at it as well, a very talented pianist who had done a few concerts before but wasn't quite famous for his skill yet.

"No Athrun, you don't have to thank me, well, wait, there _is _something you could do for me." Nicol said and smiled impishly, a rare thing to be seen on the shy and polite young man.

"Oh? And what is that?" Athrun asked; eyebrows raised in question at the expression on his friend's face.

"Just make sure you don't flake, I want you to really propose to him, Athrun. That would be the best thing you could do for me. And make me your best man at the wedding." Nicol replied and they laughed.

"What's so funny? Making fun of me again?" they heard a voice ask and looked up to see a brown-haired man with amethyst-purple eyes holding some sandwiches and drinks.

"Oh nothing Kira. Thanks for getting the snacks." Athrun said and pulled his boyfriend down. The young and equally handsome man passed out the food and drinks before tucking into his own sandwich. He was a bit skinnier than the other two, more lithe; feline-like almost. But he was strong for his size.

The friends sat looking out over the dazzling blue sea eating their sandwiches and occasionally taking a sip out of their drinks saying nothing for a while.

The beach was crowded today, with many families and friends laying on blankets or splashing around in the cool water, taking advantage of the wonderful day. There was a lot of noise, people talking, laughing, squealing; radios blaring out different types of music on different stations, but overall it was nice and peaceful.

After a while the crowds started to thin as the sun sank lower towards the horizon. The pink, orange, and purple slashes of color radiated around the red-orange sun as it looked merely inches away from the surface of the water.

"We should go home now, it's getting late." Kira said. His friends agreed and they packed up their stuff and headed back to their car.

After dropping Nicol off Kira and Athrun headed back to their house, where they were living together. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a large living room, a spacious dining room, and an equally large kitchen where Athrun mainly did the cooking.

Being a house for men, gay or not, the decorations were quite simple; a brown couch sat across from a large, flat-screen television in the living room. Along with another chair for visitors and a coffee table with magazines and other normal paraphernalia. A phone station was set up towards the opposite wall.

The dining room had a medium-sized brown table with six chairs. There was a cabinet and pictures along the walls, but not much else. The kitchen had all the normal machinery, plus a few extra items that people who usually cook and cook good have around.

"Well that was fun. I'm glad Nicol was able to join us." Kira said after putting up the stuff they brought to the beach.

"Yeah, it was the perfect day, too." Athrun replied, a bit uneasily while thinking about his plans for the night and what Nicol had said.

Kira glanced at him curiously but seemed to wave it off. He went down the hallway and towards their bedroom, Athrun following behind him.

They took out some pajama shorts and went into the bathroom to shower and change.

"Wanna shower together?" Kira asked abruptly, blushing slightly and biting his lip. Athrun blushed as well but smiled. "Sure." He said and took Kira's hand. He pulled him forward and kissed him softly, and then passionately. Kira threaded his hands through Athrun's sandy locks and they started undressing themselves while stumbling towards the shower.

When they got out, the room was steamy and the mirror was fogged, not only because of the heat of the shower, but also the heat form the two men.

They didn't bother to put their shorts on as they collapsed onto the bed, still kissing and running their hands over each other. Afterwards, after Athrun managed to catch his breath, he stared into those amethyst eyes and asked the question.

The reply sent them at it again.

* * *

The next day was spent telling friends about the engagement and making plans for the wedding. They were both so preoccupied that Athrun actually forgot to call and tell Nicol, oddly enough as it were; Kira insisted on telling Cagalli, his sister, and Lacus, their other friend, first.

After the two girls heard the news they of course started to take over the whole planning process, loving weddings and such things. So they were over at Lacus's house doing most of the planning and didn't get around to telling anyone else except calling a few places for the actual wedding.

A little after noon Kira got a call from the IT Tech office asking him to stop by a customer's house and fix their computer, and he reluctantly left them and didn't get back until much later that night.

Athrun of course thought nothing of it, what with Kira explaining that he also remembered some errands he had meant to do that day anyway and also surprising Athrun with his favorite flowers, which put them in the same situation as the night before.

* * *

The next morning Athrun woke up alone. It was 10:00 and the sun was peaking through the closed blinds. He sat up and looked for his boyfriend, and then tried to hear if he was in the kitchen making breakfast or watching TV in the living room.

There was no sound from the house. At first it gripped Athrun as odd, but then he remembered that being an IT Technician called for early hours and late nights. He was fortunate that both of them had the day off when they went to the beach with Nicol, a rare occasion with Athrun himself being a detective for ORB's police force.

He yawned, stretched, and then got out of bed. He grabbed some clothes and trudged into the bathroom, not even daring to wash the scent of his fiancé off his skin, despite most likely needing to work that day.

After putting on his clothes, brushing his teeth, fixing his hair, and washing his face he walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to grab a light breakfast. He grabbed his cell phone that was sitting on the counter where he left it that night and scrolled through the names on his contact list until he found the right one.

Smiling, he let himself remember and relive the memories of the day and heat-filled night. Kira had said yes. He was engaged. They would finally be together- forever.

A loud ringing snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked down at his cell to see that the agency was calling him. He frowned and answered. "Athrun Zala speaking."

"Athrun, it's Dearka, and you're not gonna believe what I'm about to tell you." His other friend said; his tone ominous and slightly fearful.

A hard lump formed in Athrun's throat as the worst thought possible came to mind. _'Kira, I hope he's okay…' _he thought and already felt the sweat trickle down his forehead.

He swallowed the lump and braced himself, proud of the fact that he was able to answer clearly. "What is it?"

Dearka sighed on the other line and also seemed to brace himself for what was to come.

"Nicol's dead. We found his body slumped against his piano, it looks like he was playing it when…" here he trailed off, as if not wanting to continue.

Athrun sucked in a gasp. _'Nicol? Dead? This can't be; he must be trying to trick me or something. I just saw him the other day and he looked so happy and healthy!' _he thought and frowned deeper.

But Dearka found the courage to finish.

"…when he was murdered."

Another gasp. The bluenette froze, the chills racing down his spine as he began to sweat again. _'No, it can't be. Who would murder him? He was so happy and polite and nice to everyone. Who would want to kill Nicol Amarfi?' _he thought, barely conscious of what he was actually thinking; numb with the kind of fear and denial that comes when someone close to you is found dead or worse, murdered.

"Look, I know it's terrible, but it's also our job to figure out who did this. We owe it to him, we can't let the fact that he was our friend interfere with our emotions in this." Dearka said, again snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Y-yeah, alright. What have you got so far?" he asked, trying to stay focused and do what he did best.

"I'd rather not say over the phone. You might want to come to Nicol's house to see for yourself. I'll meet you there; the crime scene unit should be done by the time we arrive anyway." Dearka replied.

Although the thought of seeing his best friend dead didn't exactly appeal to him, he knew that he had to do it, for his job, for Nicol.

"Alright. I'm on my way." He answered and hung up. With shaky hands he grabbed his keys and again scrolled through the list until he found Kira's name, this time pressing the send button quickly, dreading any more interruptions full of bad news.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice. Athrun breathed out and smiled. "Hey, it's me." He replied.

"Hey." Kira replied, by the tone of his voice he could tell the boy was smiling.

"I…I have some bad news Kira." Athrun said, getting into his car and starting the engine.

"What is it?" Kira asked, sounding as scared and worried as Athrun had sounded earlier.

Athrun sighed and backed out onto the road.

"Nicol's dead. I'm going over to his house to…examine the crime scene and his body. Where were you earlier?" he asked, although regretting the question because although he didn't mean it, it sounded like he was interrogating a suspect.

Kira's reply sounded hurt, "I went to go get you a present." He said.

"Kira, I didn't mean it like that, I was just asking. I'm sorry." Athrun said and he pulled out onto the main road and drove towards his other friend's house.

"Um, it's okay. So I guess I should come home and wait for you?" Kira asked with uncertainty and…fear?

Athrun ignored it completely and said, "Yeah, lock the door and try to see if there's anything on the news about an escaped criminal or something. He might be after all of us, or it could just be a random killing." He flinched but otherwise tried to remain emotionless.

"I see, alright. I love you Athrun, and please be careful. You know how I feel about you chasing down these homicidal freaks." Kira said; a slight edge to his voice.

Athrun took it as fear and shock over what he had just told him. "I love you too Kira. You be careful and I'll try my best to be safe while tracking this guy, or girl." He replied.

"I will. Bye." Kira answered.

"Bye." Athrun said and hung up.

As he drove it hit him, and hit him _hard_. Nicol, his best friend, the one who hooked him and Kira up, was dead. Murdered. And he didn't even get his wish, his last and only wish.

Athrun stopped at the stop light and put his head on the steering wheel as the grief overcame him. _'I should have called and told him yesterday, maybe this could have been prevented, or if not, at least he would have gotten his final wish. The only thing he really ever wanted in life was to play the piano and see Kira and I married. I feel like I've failed him.' _He thought miserably.

The beeping of a horn behind him made him pick his head up and continue driving.

'_I'll find the guy who did this to you Nicol, and I'll lock him behind bars so thick there'd be no hope of escape. I couldn't grant you your last wish, but I'll make sure I find whoever killed you no matter what. Justice shall prevail, for you, Nicol.' _He thought and set his features to a determined look.

He arrived at the house a few minutes later and saw that Dearka and Yzak were both already there. They were also detectives and would also be taking this quite personal. There will be no question as to if they'd find the killer. It was just a matter of when.

He stepped out of his car and walked up to them where they were standing on Nicol's front porch. He saw in a memory of them all standing on this same porch, drinking beer and laughing with each other. He shook his head and nodded to them.

"Dearka, Yzak." He said curtly.

"Athrun." They replied. The friends all stood silent for a moment before Yzak sighed.

"Come on, might as well get it over with. He's in here." he said and lead the way inside Nicol's house to the living room, where a Grand Piano sat, and Nicol's lifeless form sat slumped against it.

There was blood on the blacktop and on the keys, making them sticky and hard to press. He sat on his bench and looked almost as if he were merely sleeping.

With a knife wound in the middle of his back.

Whoever it was, they must have taken him by surprise, snuck up on him while he was playing and stabbed him. Why they would actually enter his house just to stab him and run wasn't exactly clear yet, but the three men hoped they would be able to find some clues as to what and why this happened.

"Crime scene boys say the blood is all his, there's no sign of forced entry, no footprints, and the knife or whatever created this wound here, is gone. They've checked all the trash cans, closets, everywhere. Nothing." Dearka said.

"We've asked the neighbors and they say they didn't see or hear anything. Although one person said they saw a car park in the driveway and someone get out, they couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, and that they went inside. About half an hour later they left. We're not sure, but we think it fits the time frame of Nicol's death. He certainly wasn't killed this morning." Yzak added.

Athrun nodded and surveyed the rest of the room. Everything seemed normal, except for the yellow tape; it didn't look like a crime scene at all unless you looked at the piano and saw the blood on the floor near the legs.

"Well, the crime scene boys will finish up here and then take him to the morgue. The autopsy will be performed and if any of us want to come watch we're allowed, but only one of us can go. Where do you want to start?" Dearka said.

Yzak glanced at Athrun, who remained staring at Nicol's body with intensity that seemed not of this world, as if he were willing Nicol himself to tell him what happened. God knows that would make things so much simpler.

"I think we should ask that guy about the car arriving at Nicol's house, just to see if there's anything else he remembers or if he has any more details. He lives right next door." Yzak said after a moment.

Dearka nodded and also glanced at Athrun who sighed and turned to look at them.

"We're going to find who killed him, Athrun. This freak won't get away with it." Yzak said. Athrun nodded and they went out of the house and onto the sidewalk.

'_We'll avenge you Nicol.' _Athrun thought as he walked. _'I hope Kira's okay…' _

* * *

**-Author's Note: So what do you think? Good, bad, sad? Do you think you know who it is already? Don't get too ahead of yourself, there, because this is only the beginning. Please tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments pertaining to the fic would be great and highly appreciated. Peace out!-**


	2. Chapter 2: Sad But True

**Chapter 2: Sad But True**

**Disclaimer:**** I only own the plot of this fiction and any OCs. See first chapter for warnings.**

* * *

They walked down the sidewalk in somber silence, each contemplating their friend's tragic and questioning death.

There were no signs of forced entry, which must mean that Nicol either invited the killer in or the killer had a key. There were no footprints outlined in the blood to nail down their killer, and the weapon was gone.

In short, all they knew is that someone paid a visit to Nicol last night; a fatal visit.

"This is his house." Yzak said and they approached the porch. It was simple-looking, no potted plants or swinging bench, just a small plastic chair sitting near the door. The porch and house itself was off-white and in need of a repainting; certainly the opposite of Nicol's lavish home beside it.

Dearka knocked and soon after the door opened to reveal a short, balding man who had on a gray robe and blue boxers. He quickly tied the robe to cover himself and invited the detectives in, not needing to see their badges to know who they were and why they came.

The interior of the house was as simple and as boring as the exterior. Tan carpeting, white walls, and little decoration except a medium-sized old television sitting on a TV stand in front of an older blue couch.

He led them into the dining room where a small brown table was set with four chairs placed around it; although it was obvious the man lived alone.

"I know you probably told one of the cops your story earlier, but we'd like to hear it for ourselves. You said you saw a car pull up at your neighbor's house around…?" Dearka started off.

"I believe it was 8:30, it was around that time when I glanced at the clock a few moments earlier. In fact, if I hadn't looked at the clock I might not have noticed the car at all." The man replied.

"I see. Do you think you could make out the type of car it was? Van, two-seater, four-seater, hot-rod?" Dearka asked again.

"Well, it was certainly no van. It was small, looked a bit like a sports car. But it was dark and the street lamps aren't that bright around here. I could only make out the back end since they pulled up close to the garage. It looked a bit like the backs of an Eclipse, you know, the Mitsubishi? I'm not too sure though, there're a few other cars that look like that. That's about all I can remember of what it looked like." He said again.

Athrun frowned. _'Kira has an Eclipse, but that can't possibly be true, unless he just stopped by to tell him of our engagement and then left, and _then _the killer turned up. Or it wasn't an Eclipse at all, like he said, there _are _a few other cars made like that.' _He thought and shook his head as Yzak picked up the questioning.

"Alright, what about the owner of the car? What did you see of them?"

"Well, I'm guessing it was male, since the hair seemed to be short. He's tall, but not as tall as you men, maybe a few inches shorter. Real skinny, of what I saw, even with clothes on. That's why I thought it was a girl with just a short haircut. The person didn't have much of a frame per say, of what I saw. I couldn't make out their face, but I wasn't really looking. Just a glance, really. It isn't my business to spy on my neighbor's visitors." He answered.

"Did the person walk directly toward the door?" Yzak asked again.

"Yes, I heard him knock and Nicol-that's his name right? Right- he answered because I saw the light coming in from the doorway, but the other person's body was shadowed so I couldn't make out anything else. They went inside and I didn't hear much else except for the soft playing of the piano. I know he liked to play often and sometimes I could hear him when it was quiet in the house. He was good. It's sad that those hands can no longer produce such music." He said sadly, glancing over at the house forlornly.

"Where were you standing? In the living room?" Athrun asked after a nod form Yzak.

"Yes. I'll show you." The man said and led them into the living room. He went over to a window facing Nicol's house and they looked through, confirming what he saw made sense form the angle he was standing at.

"When did the person leave?" Athrun asked again.

The man sighed out, "Oh, around nine, nine-fifteen. I wasn't paying too much attention. Like I said, all I heard was the piano playing and then it stopped, like the song was finished. I assumed that he was playing it for his friend and either that was all he had and wasn't finished composing it or the friend just realized they had to leave, because he was out the door moments later."

The men glanced at each other. It was obvious this late-night visitor had to be Nicol's killer, but they couldn't be sure since the time-of-death hasn't been confirmed by the ME yet.

"Thank you for talking with us. If there's anything else you may remember or could tell us please do so. Just call this number." Athrun said and handed the man his business card.

"Oh you're welcome. I'm glad I could help, with what little information I have. I'll be sure to alert you if I remember something or want to add anything. I hope you find who did this. I've been a bit nervous since the cops showed up." The man replied with a weak smile as he saw them out.

They nodded and left, walking back to Nicol's house.

"Well, that most certainly gives us the perp (1), now if only we knew exactly who he or she _was_." Dearka said and sighed.

"Yeah, but we can't be too sure until Murrue tells us time-of-death." Yzak replied.

"Speaking of which, here she is now." Athrun told his friends as he saw her car pull up.

They walked over to her as she got out and all nodded their greeting.

"Man, this is terrible. I never thought we'd end up investigating one of our own friends. Especially not Nicol. It's just so…random!" she exclaimed as they walked briskly into the house they recently had a party at, celebrating their last investigation where they caught their killer and sent him away for good and ever.

"Yeah I know, but it happens. We just have to do the best we can and try not to get too emotionally involved." Yzak said: the less ruffled of them all.

"Yeah, but since he is our friend, I'm sure this will be the most thorough investigation ever done. This killer won't last long until we catch him." Murrue said.

"Or her." Athrun added. She glanced at him sideways and they told her what they found out at the neighbor's house.

"Ah, I see. You're right Athrun; women are just as vicious, if not more, as men. At least he wasn't tortured or killed slowly." She added, referring to the last investigation where all their corpses were mutilated beyond recognition because of the killer's sick fantasies.

"And here we are. There doesn't seem to be an exit wound and the blood is pretty much dried up by now. They must have popped him while he was playing, he didn't even see it coming." Dearka stated.

"Which is difficult to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing." She replied and pulled on latex gloves. She grimaced in remorse as she stepped toward her young friend's body, but took a deep breath before diving in.

"What do you mean?" Dearka asked.

"Well, in one way it could be a good thing in that he died almost peacefully, not terrified and faced with the harsh reality of today's violent society. But on the other hand it could be viewed as a bad thing since he didn't have a chance to defend himself and simply be put in the hospital. I could almost say the bullet didn't kill him immediately, but from his position it looked as if it cut through some major organs, ending his life pretty quick." She told them.

They looked on with grim but professional expressions, trying to think of Nicol as just another innocent victim and not a dear friend ripped from their lives.

"The bullet was shot at pretty close range, and from what the neighbor said if Nicol was playing he probably wouldn't have heard the gun being loaded and cocked, perhaps until it was too late." She continued with her observations.

"Yeah, that's what we thought since he was sitting at the piano. What do you think about time-of-death?" Yzak asked. They all waited in anticipation as she examined him a bit more.

"Well, it wasn't as soon as this morning, most likely late last night. I would say around nine, which corresponds with the story your neighbor said, but if that time wasn't there I'd still say late. When I examine him at the morgue I'll be able to make a better estimate, maybe even a definite time, but right now I don't exactly have the tools. Plus this blood is dry and has been for a while, with dry blood it's harder to discover how long it's been there." She replied.

She turned his head slightly to the side to reveal a pale-looking Nicol with his eyes closed and not a single sign of horror or shock. Just…peacefulness. Almost like he was resigned to his fate and had no complaints. That would be like Nicol alright.

She sighed again and gazed at him fondly before she turned back to the three detectives.

"I'm counting on you to catch this guy and bring him to justice. There's no way he or she can get away with something like this, even if it was a simple gunshot. He had no reason to die and didn't deserve to so soon in his life." She told them sincerely with a stern look in her brown eyes.

"Yes ma'am." They replied.

"Ready to take him to the morgue Doc?" a crime scene investigator asked her.

"Yes, if you're done here load him up. Be careful, please." She told him. He nodded and gave them all a sympathetic look. Everyone knew that this particular victim was a friend of the detectives and Murrue.

"Well, I should get going. Tell me if you have any leads or find anything. Will one of you come when I examine him?" she said.

They glanced at each other and it was Athrun who spoke up. "I'll come. I was possibly the last person who saw him besides the killer. I owe him."

She nodded again, managed a weak smile, and then left.

Dearka sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Yzak's cold mask of indifference was starting to crack now that the observers were slowly leaving. Athrun knew he was the most obvious distraught-looking one there, but he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it.

Not for a long time.

He would always remember that day at the beach, Nicol's last request, and the fact that he wasn't able to fulfill it. His earlier thought that Kira had been the one that had shown up and told Nicol of their engagement seemed more far-fetched than before.

But at least his last recollection of the youth was a happy one. At least his death wasn't gruesome, if not shocking.

But still, he was dead, and Athrun somehow felt a bit guilty for it. Why, he didn't know, but he suspected it was because he hadn't told Nicol, hadn't even called him, and he knew that if he had he just might have prevented this.

It's funny how guilt can eat a person up. He'd seen many a time when a suspect would suddenly confess their crime because the guilt of it weighed too heavily upon them. Or when a witness would reveal an important detail because the guilt of keeping the secret demanded to be let out into the open.

He hoped that this would be as easy. That they could find the killer quick and send him to jail for the rest of his accursed life.

But somehow he felt it would be much harder than that, and also a deep feeling of dread was slowly creeping up into his gut, telling him that this particular investigation would be tough not only because his friend was dead, but that the killer was a friend as well.

But that he wouldn't be able to accept, so he quickly threw that out of his mind. Already he could tell that he was emotionally involved and would discredit anyone he personally knew and liked.

No, it was a low-life scumbag he was hoping to be the killer. Someone he could hate and feel justified in placing him in jail. Someone he could have the satisfaction of seeing behind bars and out of his life.

"Well, what now guys? We've got that the killer was definitely here around 8:30 and offed (2) poor Nicol before turning tail and leaving around 9:00. He was possibly driving a Mitsubishi Eclipse-," here Dearka stopped and turned quickly to Athrun with a look of shock and realization.

"Doesn't Kira drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse? A blue one?" he asked.

"I know what you're thinking, but Kira couldn't possibly be the killer. Besides, the guy said he wasn't sure if it was an Eclipse or not, there's other cars that look similar and could also have been the killer's car." Athrun said quickly.

"Athrun, I know about you and Kira, but just because you're engaged doesn't mean you can totally rule out the possibility of him being-," Yzak was cut off by Athrun.

"It wasn't him Yzak, alright!? He was running errands, he told me! Besides, he got back around ten anyway, why would the killer come home to the detective most likely investigating the case? Kira isn't a killer, especially not the killer of Nicol. They're friends, they'd never hurt each other." He snapped and glared at them both, daring them to challenge him and his innocent fiancée.

Yzak glared back but said nothing, knowing this was a touchy subject with his friend and not wanting to be another fixture of the crime scene.

Dearka glanced between both of them and caught Yzak's eye while Athrun looked away to calm himself.

"Look, I'm sorry I snapped, it just doesn't seem logical that Kira is the killer. There are not only other cars with the same rear-end as Eclipses but there are also many Eclipses in ORB. The chances of it being Kira's car is slim, you have to admit. And I trust him enough to accept his alibi." He said softer than before.

"Apology accepted, buddy. Now come on, we have some answers to find!" Dearka said with a smile and clapped him on the back. Yzak was still looking hard at Athrun but with his friend's smile shook it off and they left the house.

* * *

"What!? Nicol's dead!? How!? Why!? What happened!?" Cagalli screamed when they told her the news. The boys winced and Dearka covered his ears from her screaming.

"Will you stop screaming already woman!? He was shot in the back at his piano!" Yzak yelled and then continued in a quieter tone. "All we really know is that someone showed up at his house around 8:30, could have killed him around 9:00, and then left right after. The back of their car looked a bit like a Mitsubishi Eclipse but there are tons of cars with that description. We're going to do the best we can on finding who did this."

She had her hand over her mouth and tears were running down her face. Athrun put his hand on her arm and she leaned against him. She nodded at Yzak and started wiping the tears away.

"I'm sorry; I just…didn't expect you to say that. Poor Nicol…that's so sad." She said quietly.

"Yeah, it's gonna be tough, but we need to find who did this, if you think you can help we'd appreciate it." Dearka said.

"Right, well, the last time I saw Nicol was at the party." Cagalli said.

"Same here." Dearka and Yzak answered. They all turned to Athrun.

"Nicol, Kira, and I all went to the beach about two days ago. That was the last time I saw him though, I forgot to call and tell him about the engagement. I probably could have prevented this." He replied to their looks.

"Here we go again." Yzak said while throwing up his hands and sighing. Dearka rolled his eyes and glanced at his friend.

Athrun had told them that he was assuming responsibility for Nicol's death because he hadn't called or checked up on him to tell him the news. Yzak and Dearka both argued that even if he had called or stopped by there still was no way Athrun could have stopped him from getting killed.

They both told Athrun to stop feeling guilty because there was nothing he could have done, and that wallowing in the guilt wouldn't help with the investigation. Athrun still felt it was his fault one way or the other, however.

"Athrun, this isn't your fault. Lacus and I were keeping you both busy all day yesterday, if anything it's our fault for holding you up and not letting you tell everyone else. I guess we just got too caught up in the excitement. But please don't blame Nicol's death on yourself. It's not fair." Cagalli told him.

He still looked sad and burdened with guilt but he nodded anyway.

"Well, I guess I'll tell Lacus then. She'll be more helpful at consoling us anyway. I'm sure she can cheer us up." The blonde said and then led them into the living room and told them to sit.

She picked up the phone and dialed the pink-haired singer's number and waited while it rang.

"Lacus here, how may I help you?"

"Hey Lacus, it's me Cagalli. I…I have some bad news." Cagalli told her friend.

"Oh? But we just had good news yesterday with Kira and Athrun's engagement. Did they break up?"The girl asked innocently.

"No, Nicol…he's dead. They found him this morning. Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak are investigating his…murder." Cagalli told her.

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Nicol? He was murdered? But didn't we just see him this weekend? Oh my, that's terrible." She finally answered, sounding sad.

"Yeah I know. I just wanted to tell you so you'd know. I didn't mean to ruin your day." Cagalli replied.

"Oh no, I wasn't really doing anything. Do you want me to come over? I can bring cookies, I just finished baking them." Lacus said.

"Sure, that would be nice, the boys are here too." Cagalli told her.

"Okay, I'll be over in a few minutes."The singer said and they hung up.

"She's coming over, and bringing cookies." Cagalli announced.

The boys glanced at each other weirdly at the thought of Lacus bringing cookies over as a form of comfort, but shrugged and leaned back in their seats.

"So what now? Are you going to try to find the car?" she asked them after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, we called the Police Station and told them to look out for Mitsubishi Eclipses and any other car matching that description. They've been asked to pull them over and question them about Nicol's murder. We can't possibly interrogate them all, but it's a start and might get us a few more leads." Dearka answered.

"Yeah, that seems to be the best way to start." Cagalli nodded.

"We didn't have any witnesses except the neighbor and we've already questioned him, so there's not much we can do until something comes up." He continued and they all sat in silence for a while, contemplating what their next move should be.

Finally Cagalli got up and offered to get them drinks while they waited on lacus, and after they had taken a few sips there was a knock on the door.

Cagalli answered it to reveal lacus holding a tray with tin foil covering it. Her long pink hair was put up in a ponytail and she was wearing a white sundress with yellow lining that reached her knees and some white sandals with tan straps.

"Hello everyone, I'm so sorry about what happened to Nicol, it's terrible. But we must have you boys at your best, so I thought some food would help. I hope you like them." She said as she walked into the living room. They all stood up when she entered and nodded toward her in acknowledgement.

She set the tray down and sat next to Cagalli who was the first to grab a cookie.

"Mmm, this is good Lacus-sama. Thanks for bringing them. Would you like something to drink?" she asked.

"Oh sure, some tea would be great. Thank you." Lacus replied and Cagalli got up to get the beverage.

"So, you must tell me what happened and what you have found so far. I know you must have told this story a thousand times but I would like to know what is going on." Lacus said.

Athrun was about to answer when Lacus suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, where's Kira?" she asked. "I forgot to ask because I didn't see him." She added sheepishly.

"He should be at home. I called him first and told him to just go home because I didn't want anything to happen to him." He answered.

"Oh? I called there earlier but no one answered. I called his cell phone but it was off, I did leave a message though." She replied and tilted her head to the side curiously.

Yzak and Dearka both looked to Athrun, but they didn't say anything because his cell phone rang suddenly.

He answered it just as Cagalli came in with Lacus's drink and handed it to her.

"Hello?"

"Athrun? It's me, Kira."

"Where are you!?" Athrun asked angrily, but then regretted it. He shouldn't be lashing out against Kira. He shouldn't let the fact that the killer's car was similar to his fiancée's interfere with his conversation, he couldn't let the fact that Kira was out when Nicol was killed impair his judgment, he couldn't let the fact that Kira had been gone for quite some time while he was investigating Nicol's murder unnerve him.

He couldn't let the fact that everything seemed to be pointing to his beloved at being the killer give him an excuse to suspect him.

"I-I'm sorry A-Athrun. I stopped to get something to eat on the way home because I was hungry. I saw that Lacus had called and tried to call her house but she wasn't there so I thought I'd call you." Kira answered with a stutter.

Athrun sighed. "I'm sorry I keep snapping at you, I don't mean to, it's just this investigation. Lacus is over at Cagalli's house. I, Dearka, and Yzak are all here so you might as well come over. Maybe you can help us." He said.

"Okay. But on the news it said that all Mitsubishi Eclipses and cars that looked similar to that were being stopped, something about Nicol's killer having the same car. Is that true?" he asked.

"Yeah, we talked to his neighbor this morning and he said that he could make out the back of the vehicle and that it resembled a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Just be careful and if you get pulled over answer all the questions truthfully, you might want to add that you're going to meet up with Detective Zala so they'll know that you're at least already going to talk to me." Athrun told him.

"Okay, I will. See you in a few. Love you." Kira replied.

"Love you too." Athrun answered and they hung up.

"Was that him?" Yzak asked.

"Who?" Cagalli asked also, not hearing their earlier conversation.

"Kira, yeah it was. He's coming over. I told him to tell the cops if he got pulled over that he was on his way to see me. They'd at least let him go and call me to make sure he was telling the truth." Athrun told them.

They nodded and sat in silence again, occasionally sipping their drinks or taking a bite out of one of Lacus's cookies.

Athrun only hoped the other two detectives weren't putting together the pieces of the puzzle like eh was, with Kira at the center of it all.

'_Kira, please don't be the killer.' _

* * *

**-Author's Note: Viola! You like? Does it at least sound semi-logical? Does it sound too easy? Like I said before, don't get too ahead of yourself! If you've read any of my other fictions you know I have plenty of twists up my sleeve! Please tell me what you think, comments and suggestions are welcomed. No flames though, if you have any be sure to read the Warning and Disclaimer in the first chapter.**

**(1) "perp" is short for Perpetrator. Detectives and cops usually use this term for the killer.**

**(2) "offed" is slang for killed. Just in case you weren't sure.-**


	3. Chapter 3: Comfort Food

Chapter 3:

**Chapter 3: Comfort Food**

**Disclaimer:**** No ownage of the characters, they belong to the creators of Gundam Seed. The plot, however, is owned by me and in part by Infinite Sky who has given me some ideas. This chappy (and most likely the whole fic) is dedicated to her!**

_Okay, in the first chapter I said that it was a knife wound that ended poor Nicol's life, but then in the second chapter I was calling it a bullet wound, but to make this investigation a bit harder for our detectives I'll say it was a knife wound, because they could easily discover what type of gun killed him from the type of bullet and then get pretty close to where it actually is…so to not rat out the killer too early in the game I'm declaring it a knife wound…just ignore all that stuff about bullets in the last chapter. Sorry, I was reading over it and realized my mistake, and wanted to clear things up in case anyone was confused or thinking me a crazy lady who can't make up her mind! Wow this is long…Thank you and enjoy the third chapter!_

* * *

Kira arrived twenty minutes later. Ten minutes prior Athrun had received a call from a local police officer telling him he pulled Kira over and began questioning him, and that Kira told him he was coming to see Athrun. Athrun told him that Kira was his boyfriend and not considered a suspect in the case, but congratulated him on being so thorough.

"I was worried about you. At least now you're safe." Athrun said when they embraced each other.

"Yeah." Kira's muffled reply came near his ear. They ended their embrace and sat on the couch, Kira eyeing the cookies on the table.

"Comfort food?" he asked.

"Yes, please have some; I was making them for you guys anyway, when Cagalli called and told me the news. Cookies are very good comfort food." Lacus answered.

Kira nodded and took a cookie, sitting back against the couch and nibbling on it, his amethyst eyes blank.

"I can't believe this has happened." He said quietly, barely above a whisper. "We just saw him the other day." His voice cracked and Athrun put his arm around him, Kira leaned into him as a few tears slipped down his cheek.

"None of us can really grasp the true meaning of the situation just yet. It's hard to believe, especially when it's a close friend. If it was from natural causes, or a disease, things would be different. But _murder_…that makes it worse. Nicol's life was ended before it should have been, someone took his life away. I hope you guys find whoever did." Cagalli said, a hard glint in her amber eyes.

Kira looked up at his twin's face, and they looked into each other's eyes for a long moment while the others thought over her words. Kira sniffed and looked away, looking into his fiancé's face.

Athrun looked tired, and it was only the first day of the investigation. His eyes seemed weary and sorrowful, his hair was messy from him raking his hands through it all day, and his mouth was set in a grim line. It usually took a week and no leads at all in an investigation to get him looking like this.

Kira scanned the other two detectives' faces. Yzak's eyes looked hollow, unusual for someone who showed little emotion except anger, and his hair was perfectly neat as it always was. Dearka's eyes were filled with pain…and something else, maybe determination? Kira wasn't sure what he saw in the young blonde's eyes, but he looked haggard like the others.

This was going to be their toughest case yet, and it had barely begun.

"Well, why don't we try to think of ways to catch this guy, or girl? You interviewed the neighbor, but maybe he forgot a few details, maybe you should ask him again and see if he remembers anything." Lacus spoke up. They had told her about the investigation while they waited for Kira to arrive.

"I gave him my card to call if he remembered anything or wanted to talk again. I think we should try asking the other neighbors, see if they remember seeing anything. The person living on Nicol's left should have gotten a good look at the killer, even though it was night. They could be able to determine whether it was a guy or a girl, at least." Athrun told her.

"That's good too. And the autopsy should give you more information." Lacus said casually, as if she weren't talking about the examination of her murdered friend's body.

"Yeah, but it was a knife wound, it will be harder trying to find the murder weapon." Yzak said. (Again, I messed up last chapter, it was a knife wound not a bullet wound, guns are easier to track down and I want to make this a bit difficult.)

"Oh. But you can still do searches on knives, right? If you can at least narrow down the blade. I think you did that on one of your other investigations, right?" Lacus asked.

"Yeah, but it could have been a simple kitchen knife, we have no way of determining if one of Nicol's steak or butter knives are missing, and even though the crime scene guys finger-printed everything, our own finger-prints will show up, so we can't really go by that, unless a new set appears." Yzak told her.

She nodded and looked to be thinking of more ideas to help them out.

"Then let's try a different avenue. If you talk to the other neighbors you could probably narrow down the killer and the car, if any of them saw anything. If you can be sure that it was a Mitsubishi Eclipse, then you could probably search all of them within the city. Unless you have to have a special warrant for that kind of thing, do you?" Cagalli suggested.

"We can't do those kind of general searches unless it's a very high-profile case, like the governor or someone like that being killed, or a mass murder. Yeah we have probable cause, but we could still end up getting sued if we try to search the car without the person's full permission, or it might not be counted as evidence in court. It's difficult that way." Dearka said.

"I thought so. Well, the police are supposedly pulling over everyone who has a blue or dark-colored Mitsubishi Eclipse, so maybe you'll find something that way; hopefully you'll find something that way. If not, you might be able to do a database search on all criminals with that car type...is that possible and/or legal?" she asked again.

"Possibly, but we'd have to nail the killer down more, although that would certainly help. I think we should go back to his neighborhood and start asking people again. The police who questioned them earlier said that none of them had anything to say except the one guy to Nicol's right, but maybe they'll be more inclined to tell us, or perhaps remember something useful. Anything right now can help us." Athrun said.

"Right now?" Dearka asked around a mouthful of one of Lacus's cookies.

"Yeah. Kira, can you stay here for a bit? I'll call you later if we find anything, or if I'm coming home. I just don't want to leave you alone." Athrun replied and cast a sheepish grin Kira's way.

Kira nodded. "I understand, I'll stay. It's fine." He said and smiled. Athrun leaned down and kissed him before hugging the two women and leaving with Dearka and Yzak.

The three friends sat in silence for a moment until Cagalli sighed, breaking the silence.

"Well this is just too strange…first you and Athrun tell us you're going to get married, then Nicol ends up being murdered, what's next? Another war?" she asked and winced.

"I hope I didn't just jinx us." She mumbled.

"It is a bit crazy, isn't it? But we just have to help them out any way we can and try not to get in their way, I guess." Lacus said. The two siblings nodded.

Kira sat staring down at his hands in his lap, pulling on a loose thread of fabric on his shirt, his eyes downcast and threatening to overrun with tears. Cagalli's features softened and she got up and sat next to him, putting her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her side and closed his eyes, biting his lip against the tears.

"It's okay to cry, Kira-kun, it's okay." She murmured. Lacus got up and sat on the other side of him and rubbed his back comfortingly, also putting an arm on Cagalli's arm, holding them together like glue.

She was always the glue holding everyone together, a moral support center in times of crisis.

* * *

It was a silent drive back to Nicol's neighborhood, and when they got there the yellow tape was still restricting normal citizens from crossing onto the scene of the crime; onto Nicol's front yard. A few people were standing on the outer edge of the tape, asking the officers what was going on and whispering to themselves.

When the three detectives stepped out of the car all eyes turned in their direction. Reporters flew to their sides, shoving microphones and cameras in their faces, demanding answers.

"Do you know who did this?"

"Who's the victim, anyone important?"

"Do you have any leads?"

"Do you have any suspects yet?"

"Have you found the murder weapon or the killer's car?"

"Was this a hate crime or random killing?"

The questions were unnerving and cold, Athrun stepped through the reporters who were crowding around them. Yzak barked, "No comment!" at least ten times before they backed off.

"Like vultures." Dearka commented dryly.

"Who's first?" Yzak asked Athrun, uncharacteristically. Usually when they were all placed on the same case Yzak demanded to take charge, but he knew that this was way too personal for the bluenette to get arrogant. Yay Yzak!

"Let's ask the person on the left and then go down the line from there. Hopefully someone else saw something." Athrun answered as they stalked toward the yellow house next to Nicol's.

It was a one story home with hundreds of different plants surrounding the front porch and yard, where a garden bed lined the perimeter. Pots of ferns and other plants hung from the porch ceiling or sat on the railings, all different colors, shapes, and sizes. The smell was almost unbearable.

They opened the gate and walked up the short pathway, onto the front porch, and knocked on the door. A few minutes later the door opened to reveal a small, older woman with short gray hair and an apron wrapped around her hips.

"Hello? What's this, who are you, what's going on?" she asked cautiously.

Athrun smiled, but he knew it wasn't as reassuring as he wanted it to be.

"We're investigating the murder of your neighbor, Nicol Amarfi. He was a personal friend of ours and we were just wondering if you saw or heard anything last night that could help us." He said as they flashed their badges.

"Oh? Nicol? He was killed? That's terrible. He was such a sweet boy, and played the piano wonderfully. Come in, please. Oh dear, how dreadful." She said and toddled into the house, the detectives following.

More plants greeted them, all over the small house. The air, besides being tainted with the floral smell, had the smell of home-cooking.

They came into the living room, where the woman sat down and gestured for them to do the same.

"Well, first off, my name is Martha, would you like something to eat or drink?" she asked politely.

"No thank you, ma'am, we already ate." Athrun replied.

"Oh that's alright dear. Well, I don't believe I heard or saw anything out of the ordinary. I was just getting ready for bed so I was in my bathroom or bedroom." She told them.

"Is there a window in your bathroom or bedroom facing Nicol's house?" Yzak asked.

"Oh, no, it's facing the other way." She said.

"So you don't remember anything from last night? Hearing a car pull up or the piano playing? Maybe two people talking on his front porch?" Dearka asked, getting desperate.

She hesitated, as if thinking, and finally replied, "Well, when I came in here to turn off the lamp I glanced out of that window," she pointed to the window to her left which faced Nicol's house. "And saw a car in the driveway. I knew it wasn't Nicol's because he drives a Lincoln and he always keeps it in the garage."

"Do you remember what the car looked like?" Athrun asked, leaning forward.

"Well, almost like the newer model of the Mitsubishi Eclipses, or maybe the Nissan 350Z, it was hard to tell, the lighting is poor and he was parked closer to the garage." She said.

The men all glanced at each other quickly before Yzak leaned forward as well, his elbows on his knees.

"You said it was a he? How could you tell? Did you see him or just assumed it's a he?" he asked.

"Well, I saw someone walk towards the car, I assumed it was a he because the way he walked and opened the door. Plus he wasn't carrying a purse or anything. I could barely make out the form; my eyesight is very poorly, especially at night. I mainly assumed it was a man." She replied.

"And you can't tell if it was an Eclipse or 350Z?" Dearka asked.

"No, it looked like a sports car, but like I said my eyesight is very poor at night. Although the back was lighted just a little bit, so I guessed it belonged to one of those cars. I only know because my son owns a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, he just got it for his birthday a month or so ago." She told them.

They glanced at each other again.

"Ma'am, is it possible that your son's car was the one you saw?" Athrun asked.

She looked confused and again hesitated. "Why, no, the last time I heard from him he was in the PLANTs, I think he said December City. Besides, I barely caught a glimpse and thought nothing of it." She said.

"Is that everything? Did you hear any talking or the piano being played?" Yzak asked.

"No, after I turned off the lamp I went straight to bed. I only caught the person entering their car before I turned away." She responded.

"Well, thank you for talking with us, we appreciate it." Athrun said and stood.

"If you remember anything else or wish to speak with one of us please call this number." Dearka said with a smile as he handed her his card and followed Athrun and Yzak.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't give you anything useful. I just didn't think anything of it since I see all kinds of cars over there all the time, especially that one. Mostly at night though." She said, stopping them in their tracks.

"You mean you've seen that car before? What time was it, do you remember?" Athrun said as he turned around.

"Oh, I believe it was around 9:00. And yes, I see that car often at night. I didn't assume anything though." She said.

Yzak and Dearka both looked at Athrun. He shot them both a hard look before nodding toward Martha.

"Again, thank you, please feel free to call any time." He told her and she nodded with a smile.

"Well, well, well, this is certainly interesting." Dearka said with a knowing look to Athrun.

"Either Nicol has a boyfriend and it's just a coincidence that the killer has the same car, or _someone_ has been paying him some late night visits." Yzak said.

Athrun sighed. "I'll talk with Kira about it, but I honestly think it's just a coincidence. Maybe it's not even the Mitsubishi but the Nissan." He said.

"I'm not saying anything here, but you can't rule someone out just because you're screwing them Athrun, you know that." Dearka said.

"First of all, we're _engaged_ now, second of all, Cagalli is _still_ mad at me for that whole fiasco." Athrun said coldly.

In one of their cases from a year ago, Yzak and Dearka both suspected Cagalli of doing the crime when it was really Stellar, her look-a-like, and a member of Rau Le Creuset's notorious gang.

Rau is a Crime Lord who always got away when the heat was on. All three men have a personal vendetta to see him behind bars once and for all, but the weasel always manages to escape harm, or at least a life sentence. He recently was discharged from jail on "good behavior" for a petty misdemeanor charge they scraped up, but it obviously wasn't enough to nail him for good.

"Hey, you think Rau has anything to do with this?" Dearka suddenly asked.

"You think Rau _always_ has something to do with one of our cases." Yzak replied dryly.

"That's because in some twisted way he always is! We can just never catch him." Dearka replied, sending the two into another argument centered on the masked man.

While they argued Athrun began thinking; what if Rau _was_ a part of this?

* * *

**-Author's Note: So how was that? Sorry for the long wait but I had nothing in the way of plot for this, but I think I just got it all figured out. Sad I know, but hey, tell me what you think. Any questions or comments are accepted, no flames though, it's summer time so my fireplace is of no use. Peace out!-**


	4. Chapter 4: Suspect

**Chapter 4: Suspect**

**Disclaimer:**** I only own the OCs and –plot- of this particular fiction.**

* * *

"Hey boss, did ya hear? One o' them detective friends was murdered the other night." a shady-looking man asked the figure sitting behind a huge oak desk.

The other man blew smoke out of his mouth and held his cigar to the side. "Yes, I did. Quite interesting, if you ask me." He replied smoothly.

"You got anything to do with it?" the younger man asked, his expression greedy and excited.

The other chuckled amusedly and took another drag on the cigar. "Do you think I'd tell you if I did, Auel?" he asked.

Auel ducked his head with a sheepish and somewhat fearful look on his face. "I was just wonderin', boss; o' course you ain't never involved in stuff like that." He said quickly.

Rau smiled and leaned forward. There was only a small lamp lit dimly in the corner of the room, but its faint light cast a shadow on his masked face as he smirked.

"You're absolutely right, Auel, I'm never involved in crimes such as murder. I only deal with smuggling drugs and selling women. Now run along and get me the information I asked for." He said.

Auel bobbed his head quickly and dashed out of the room. Rau smiled wider and leaned back against his chair, taking another drag.

'_This time, Detective Zala, it's personal. This time, I'll watch you burn.'_

* * *

"How's the search going?" Athrun asked Yzak as he walked into his office.

"We have a few people under question right now, the only promising one of the bunch is Tolle Koenig." The silver-haired man answered with a frown.

"Tolle? Kira's friend? Why are you questioning him?" Athrun asked with a confused expression.

"He was pulled over for speeding; the cop saw the Mitsubishi Eclipse and thought he'd gotten lucky. Naturally after receiving the fine he was asked to be brought in for questioning. He seemed a bit miffed and didn't cooperate too well until he was told of Nicol's murder. Dearka's in there right now." Yzak replied.

"Great, now we have to question all of our friends? I don't like where this is going, Yzak." Athrun said, shaking his head.

"Neither do I, but we gotta go by what we know. Any lead we can get is a good one to me. The sooner we can catch this guy, the sooner we can put him behind bars for life, although that will never make up for Nicol's death." Yzak growled.

"Right, well, tell me if we get that lead from Tolle, I'm gonna work on the knife." Athrun told him.

"Right." Yzak said and nodded, turning to walk away. Athrun shuffled some papers on his desk. "Hey, don't overwork yourself, okay? He was my and Dearka's friend as well, let us take some of the workload." He said sternly, looking Athrun in the eyes.

Athrun nodded and Yzak left the office. Athrun got up and also went out, heading for the morgue.

Murrue was checking Nicol's still form when he walked in. He stopped just inside the cold room, looking at his dead friend lying on the metal table; a simple white sheet covering the parts of him Murrue wasn't looking at.

He had always thought that one day he'd have to investigate one of his friends' deaths; he just hoped that cruel reality would give him a break and let them all die naturally.

He should have known that life wasn't that fair.

"So, have you figured out what kind of knife was used?" Athrun asked Murrue in a neutral tone, or so he hoped.

"I've narrowed it down. The blade is slightly serrated, you can tell by the wound, see here? His skin looks like it's been sawed through; not a simple, clean cut, but rough around the edges. But since it's not too serrated, I figure it's a specialty knife, maybe a hunting knife, or switchblade, that type. However, unless the weapon happens to magically appear out of thin air and into my hands, I can't know for sure. Hopefully this will give you something else to look for. How's the car search going?" Murrue replied, showing him the wound.

Athrun sighed. "Well, at least it's something more we can look into. Yzak says they're questioning a few car owners, the most prominent one being Tolle Koenig." He answered.

"Tolle? I remember him, one of Kira's friends, Milly's ex. He and Nicol knew each other." She said.

"Yeah, first both Yzak and Dearka tried to blame this on Kira, which is preposterous! All because of a stupid car. Now Tolle, who's next, Cagalli again?" Athrun asked, frustration seeping through his controlled tone.

Murrue's features softened as she looked at him.

"I know this is frustrating, but you have to keep your head in the game. I don't remember Nicol and Tolle being particularly close, in fact, didn't they argue a few times? About Kira being gay? Surely you remember that." She told him.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget. Nicol was saying how he hoped that Kira and I would get together, and apparently Kira forgot to tell Tolle he was gay, because he jumped down Nicol's throat, saying how Kira was straight and wasn't interested in guys. That was one of the first times I actually saw Nicol argue with someone." Athrun replied, remembering the scene from a few months ago.

"Well, he may have had a motive. Did you tell him of your and Kira's engagement?" she asked, a worried look taking over her features now.

"No, we're not that close, although Kira might have told him, I'm not sure." Athrun said, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I know it doesn't sound very good, but maybe you've caught your killer." Murrue said.

"Yeah, but that's too easy…I mean, I want it to be easy, but I have a feeling it's a bit more complicated than a simple Gay Rights issue." He told her.

She shrugged.

"Well, either way, you should be careful not to immediately dismiss him or anyone else who seems suspicious." She said.

He smiled. "I know, Murrue, it's my job."

She gave him a sheepish smile and they continued the autopsy, although no other wounds were discovered and Nicol was perfectly healthy before his death.

* * *

"So, where've you been?" Dearka asked when Athrun appeared beside him. They were in the Interrogation Wing of the ORB Investigation Agency, watching Yzak question Tolle through the one-way glass.

"I went to his autopsy. Murrue says the knife is a specialty type, with a serrated blade. No other wounds were found and he was healthy." Athrun replied in a neutral tone.

"Ah, I see. Did she specify what type she thought?" Dearka asked in the same tone.

"Not exactly, switchblade most likely, or one like it. It certainly wasn't a kitchen knife, that much she said was obvious. Doesn't give us much, though." Athrun answered.

Dearka sighed. "Just another thing to search for, even though we hardly know what we're looking for." He said tiredly.

"Yeah. How's it going in there? Got any information?" the bluenette asked, watching Yzak pace around inside the room with Tolle watching warily yet angrily.

"When we finally got him to cooperate he kept saying he had nothing to do with Nicol's murder. However, his alibi is a bit edgy, one of us was gonna check it out. He says he was at Natarle's Angels that night, but I was there and didn't see him." Dearka said, rushing through the last part and glancing at Athrun quickly.

The other detective raised an eyebrow and turned to him.

"Really now, does Yzak know this?" Athrun asked him, hiding a smile.

"Of course he does, he heard me ask him and the answer." Dearka hedged, still facing the window although glancing at Athrun every now and then.

"I meant the fact that you were at the stripper bar." Athrun said, folding his arms over his chest.

Dearka's red face presented a sheepish smile and then nodded, looking down.

Athrun chuckled. Natarle's Angels was one of the few stripper joints in ORB, and Dearka frequently went whenever he had a free night. However, Yzak expressed his displeasure at Dearka "wasting his time and his money watching a bunch of underage girls take off their clothes and do a little dance so you can see just what type of STD they carry" as he put it. Athrun personally didn't care for it, but didn't feel the need to constantly badger Dearka about it either.

"Anyway, Yzak insists that I either go with one of you or not go at all, saying I'd get distracted and forget why I was there." Dearka said and snorted, clenching his jaw.

"I doubt Yzak would be all that gentle with the faculty of Natarle's Angels, then again, Kira might not enjoy the fact that I went with you, despite it being police matters." Athrun said.

"I'm sure he'll understand, besides, you're gay anyway, why should he worry?" Dearka said.

"Technically I'm bisexual, but he's my fiancé, so I guess it shouldn't matter anyway. Alright, Dearka, I'll go with you, but don't you dare get distracted or I'll drag you into Yzak's office and lock the door." Athrun told him sternly and sighed.

"Geez! I'll be good I promise!" Dearka exclaimed.

Athrun smiled and chuckled.

Yzak came in just then, looking frustrated and weary.

"He won't tell me anything more. I guess we just have to check his alibi, since that's the only thing we have." He said and looked at Dearka.

"Athrun's coming with me to make sure I don't get into trouble." Dearka said quickly.

"Tch, I dunno if I trust Mr.-Bisexual-about-to-get-married-to-another-guy going with _you_ to a female stripper joint." The silver-haired man replied.

"Relax, Yzak, I'll be sure to remember all those wonderful nights of heat I share with Kira while I'm there." Athrun joked.

"Ugh! You disgust me, Zala." Yzak said and took a few steps back, grimacing. Athrun laughed and Dearka chuckled, blushing slightly.

"Oh come on, they're in love! How can that be disgusting?" he asked.

"He doesn't have to tell me about any 'nights of heat' he shares with Kira!" Yzak exclaimed, a hint of rosy red on his otherwise pale white cheeks.

Athrun laughed again and patted Yzak on the back. "I was just kidding, Yzak. I'll make sure Dearka doesn't go overboard and I'll save the last female fun for the night before the wedding as usual." He told him.

"Yeah, yeah." Yzak replied, only slightly irritated now, almost smiling.

"Well, we might as well go now, right?" Dearka said.

"It's the middle of the day, he was there at night." Yzak said.

"Then what are we gonna do?" Dearka asked, looking at the pacing and highly annoyed Tolle.

"Well, we can look for the murder weapon." Athrun suggested.

"You know what it is?" Yzak asked.

"Murrue says it's a serrated blade, switchblade most likely. We can do another check around the perimeter of the house and neighborhood before going into knife and pawn shops." Athrun told him.

"Okay, I'll go with you. Dearka, finish up with Tolle and check on the others just in case we missed anything suspicious." Yzak said and Dearka pouted.

"Fine, fine. Tell me if you find anything interesting!" he called after them as they left.

* * *

**-Author's Note: Yes I finally updated, I'm working on the stories that I already started a new chapter for so I can get them out of the way for now, then I'll go over the stories I haven't updated in a while and see what I can do. Questions, comments, suggestions and ideas are always welcome. Peace!-**


	5. Chapter 5: Smelly Garbage

**Chapter 5: Smelly Garbage**

**Disclaimer:**** I only own the OCs and plot of this fiction.**

* * *

Athrun and Yzak arrived once again at Nicol's house, still covered with yellow tape. Athrun sighed and they went to the side where the green garbage can still sat.

"You know the Crime Scene guys already checked all the garbage cans." Yzak said.

"Yeah, but maybe they missed something. They only knew to look for a knife, maybe not even that. They could have overlooked it." Athrun replied.

"Who could overlook a bloody switchblade?" Yzak asked.

"We're about to find out."

They put on their gloves and opened the top of the garbage can.

Yzak cussed and Athrun sighed.

"How did this happen? Don't garbage people know that you're not supposed to empty the garbage of a crime scene!?" Yzak yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

* * *

"Is everything set?"

"Yes. It's in the right place now."

"You slipped up."

"They won't find anything. Wild goose chase."

"If they do, you know I won't help."

"Of course. I'll be careful."

"You always were, don't screw up this time just because it's a little more personal."

"I won't. It means nothing to me."

Rau smirked and leaned forward.

"Of course it doesn't. I trained you up right." He told the other man who smirked back.

* * *

"Look, just get me the driver who picked up this street and his crew." Athrun told the person on the other end of the phone.

"_Alright, what's the street name again?" _she asked.

"Blitz Road." He said through clenched teeth. (Come on, I can only get so original.)

She put him on hold again and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Are you sure she knows you're a cop?" Yzak asked.

"I only told her three times. Why do people always think they can yank around the law like this? It's these things that always tick me off about homicide cases. People screw up somewhere and it costs us time and resources." Athrun exclaimed.

"Yeah true. Just get the garbage people so we can ask them what happened." Yzak told him.

"I know, she has me on hold-wait- Hello? Yes. Clotho what? Can you have them go to the station? Because they disturbed a crime scene that's why! No I won't calm down, a guy was murdered and your people might have destroyed the murder weapon! I'm a detective ma'am, and if you don't cooperate I'll arrest you and shut your company down for obstructing justice and disturbing a crime scene!" Athrun started yelling while he paced Nicol's driveway.

Yzak sighed and covered his face with his hand, closing his eyes.

Athrun argued with the secretary for a bit longer until he finally got her to send the crew to the Police Station. They stood around before deciding to look again inside, even though they still didn't find much garbage.

"That's odd; don't garbage trucks only pick up once a week?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah, why?" Yzak asked, looking around the house for any clues.

"Nicol's inside garbage cans didn't have much garbage in it whenever the Crime Scene boys checked it out; they were scrounging around in the outside can but there wasn't much garbage in it. Now it's completely empty." Athrun noticed.

"You think they came by later yesterday or sometime today?" Yzak asked. (1)

"Maybe, but why would they do that? This doesn't make any sense." Athrun said.

"You're telling me. We'd better question these guys hard when they come in then."

"_If_ they come in."

"They better."

Athrun smiled at Yzak's dark expression.

"That's what I mean, people just don't want to cooperate these days, no matter who you are." He told him.

They drove back to the station to discover that Dearka had to let Tolle leave.

"The time was up and I had nothing to charge him with, sorry guys." Dearka told them when they walked in.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to find him again. Any garbage people come in yet?" Athrun asked.

"No, why? Are we that low on information that we have to start asking anybody in the area?" Dearka asked.

"Not yet, when we went to search the garbage can it was empty, weird thing is they already emptied it before Nicol was even murdered. Thought it was a bit strange so I called the local garbage company and the woman gave me a hard time before finally giving me the names of the driver and crew, they're supposed to stop by so we can question them. If anything they'll be charged with obstruction of justice by disturbing the crime scene." Athrun told him.

"Jeez, what is this crap?" Dearka exclaimed, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

"I guess we'll find out later. What about anyone else?"

"No one promising, they were all released an hour before you guys got here."

"Well, we can still check out the strip joint tonight for Tolle's alibi. Did you at least get a tail on him to make sure he doesn't run?" Yzak asked.

"Of course, although it felt weird." Dearka answered.

"I have a feeling this whole thing is gonna feel weird for a while." Athrun said and they agreed.

"What about the funeral?" Dearka asked suddenly after a long silence.

"Nicol's? I think the girls are taking care of it. Now that the autopsy is done, he can be released to his family. They've been alerted, right?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah, they're all the way in PLANTs though so it'll take a day or two before they can get here. A date hasn't been set yet as far as I know." Yzak told them.

"Well, hopefully we can get this wrapped in soon so he can rest in peace, his killer behind bars." Athrun said.

"Yeah." The two men said.

They looked through information, reread witness accounts, and looked over all the files (however few) they had on the case. Nothing came to them. No more leads, and the few they had were insubstantial. They needed something big, and fast.

Half an hour later the garbage crew arrived and each one was placed in an interrogation Room with a detective.

"Alright, first thing I wanna know is why you made two pickups in one week." Athrun asked the driver, Clotho.

He shrugged. "Must have been miscommunication, it was the first time I picked up the garbage that week." He answered.

"But it's a crime scene; don't they tell you not to pick up garbage at a crime scene?" the bluenette asked.

"It was a long day, I just stop at each house and my crew takes the garbage. Guess we must have missed the yellow tape." He replied with a slight smirk.

"It's pretty hard to miss that though. Have you been watching the news?"

"Nah, don't have a TV."

"Radio?"

"Nope."

Athrun sighed.

"Look, just tell me what you did with it, you could have dumped the murder weapon and we kind of need it." Athrun told him.

"I took it to the trash heap like I'm supposed to. Doubt you'll find it now though, with all that garbage. Besides, aren't you guys supposed to look through the garbage at a crime scene to find the murder weapon or whatever? If you hadn't done it yet that's your fault." Clotho said.

Athrun glared at him. "And if you dumped the weapon, on accident or not, you go to jail for compromising an investigation of a homicide." He said darkly.

Clotho just shrugged, looking him in the eyes with a nonchalant look, with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

Athrun went over to Yzak and Dearka to find out that the crew were just following orders and figured it was safe to dump the trash after the initial crime scene investigators swept the area. They had nothing again except more suspicion mixed with confusion.

"Alright, let them go, but warn them and their boss, got it?" Athrun finally said.

"Yep. Hey, are we still gonna search the heap for the weapon?" Yzak asked.

"We could, but I doubt we'd find anything, and if we did, we can't be sure it's the right weapon." Dearka said.

"We're getting nowhere real fast guys; let's hope this alibi is a lie so we can at least get a proper suspect." Athrun said.

"I guess. I'll stay here in case any news comes in or the perp just happens to magically appear to turn himself in." Yzak said and sat down at his desk.

"Right, we'll check the club." Athrun said and they headed out.

* * *

**-Author's Note: Woot! Confusion rocks! Please review and tell me what you think. Any questions, comments, suggestions or ideas are welcome. Sorry for the long wait, but I'm not sure when I'll update next so keep a look-out. **

**(1) So let's just say that a day has gone by since the boys found Nicol dead. Last chapter when they were interrogating Tolle and Athrun went to the morgue was the morning after they found Nicol...if that makes sense**

**Peace out!-**


	6. Chapter 6: You Ain't Got No Alibi

**Chapter 6: You Ain't Got No Alibi**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own any characters unless they are OC. The plot of this particular fiction belongs to me because it is AU. **

_Yes I'm still alive out there. I know it's been forever but I hit a major Writer's Block with this story and then had to change my plot. Again. Ugh. Anyways, hopefully I can get this thing rolling and make things more interesting, this is my first attempt at writing a mystery so it won't be as great as I want but hopefully it will be a little exciting and suspenseful about who the killer is and all the things surrounding the murder. Enough chatting, more story-writing._

* * *

Dearka's smile lit up when he walked through the double doors of Natarle's Angels. The building was dark except for the lit up bar and dance stages (I've never been into a stripper joint so this may not be very accurate). There were chairs and couches set up in front of each small stage that had a pole running down the middle attached to the ceiling. There was a main stage further in the back of the building with the bar and eating area off to the left side as you first walked in.

There were a few doors on the far right along with a set of stairs that lead to the second floor. There was a VIP lounge right above the entrance with a huge window to view everything going on.

Athrun nudged Dearka who had his eyes set on the dancer right in front of him while music played faintly in the background. Dearka gave him a sheepish grin and they walked towards the bar tender.

Before they got there, however, a girl with barely anything on greeted them and asked if there was anything in particular they wanted, VIP lounge, special dance, special dancer, et cetera. To Dearka she asked if he wanted the usual.

"No thanks, we're actually here on official business." Athrun said as he flashed his badge, ignoring the impulse to berate Dearka for coming here so often. "We're wondering if you or anyone saw a certain man a last night."

The girl's brown eyes widened in awe and slight fear. She looked very young.

"Um, I wasn't working last night, and the girl who was won't be on until tomorrow night. We switch days." She answered hesitantly.

"Do you know anyone who worked last night?" Athrun asked.

"The bartender works every night of the week except on weekends. Some of the dancers were here last night too." She replied again.

"Thank you." Athrun said. He smiled and nodded as he continued on his way to the bar. Dearka flashed the confused girl a smile and she smiled back.

"She's kinda new. I recognize a few of the girls who were here last night so if the bartender can't help we can ask one of them." Dearka said.

Athrun refrained from commenting and simply nodded. They approached the bartender who looked up from cleaning a class.

He had green hair, the same color as Nicol's except shorter and a bit spiky. He looked serious and eyed the two men suspiciously.

"Anything I can get you?" he asked.

"We're actually wondering if you remember seeing someone last night." Athrun asked, flashing his badge again.

The bartender's eyes narrowed and he leaned against the counter.

"Who ya lookin' for?" he asked. "I never thought you'd come here for official business, Dearka." He added and nodded to the blonde.

Dearka cast another sheepish grin to Athrun, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, Sting. Yeah, the guy is somewhat of a suspect in a homicide case we're working on."

"Really now? Weren't you here last night though?" Sting asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't know to look for anyone until this morning. His name is Tolle Koenig; he has brown hair and is a little shorter than Athrun here." Dearka replied.

"I see a lot of brunettes shorter than your friend here, you know that. I only recognize people who come here often." Sting said.

"Okay, well," Dearka said, trying to figure out how to describe Tolle.

Athrun sighed and pulled out a picture of Kira and his friends from school and pointed to Tolle standing next to Kira.

"This guy."

Sting squinted his eyes and took the picture, holding it under the light. "I don't think so. He's come in a few times, but he didn't last night, at least he didn't order anything from the bar, although the last few times he did. Sorry." He finally said.

"That's alright, thanks for your time." Athrun replied.

Dearka and Sting exchanged nods as they left.

"Which girl first?" Athrun asked Dearka.

"That one." Dearka said with a little excitement as he pointed to the first girl he had his eyes set on.

"To ask, not to watch." Athrun grumbled.

"She was here last night, she works most nights." Dearka said defensively.

They walked over but the chair in front was occupied.

"Excuse us; we need to ask her a few questions." Athrun said to the man watching the girl.

"And who are you?" the man asked with a sneer.

"Detectives Zala and Elsman." He responded and showed him the badge.

"Oh, sure, go ahead." The man said and scrambled out of his seat.

"Hey look, at least someone respects us." Dearka commented.

The girl looked upset and wary as she stopped her routine and put her hands on her hips.

"Dearka, what's going on?"

"We're wondering if you saw this guy last night. Sting says he didn't but he probably was busy and didn't notice." He told her and showed her the picture, pointing to Tolle.

"Um, no I haven't seen him before. You might want to ask Holly, she was working the most last night." The girl replied.

"Okay, thanks Sara." He said and they went in search of Holly.

"At least his alibi isn't credible. But why would he say he was here? Usually guys won't admit that and make up something." Athrun said.

"Maybe he figured it was a good excuse since most guys do that anyway, taking the opposite route." Dearka guessed.

"True, but still, why not tell us the truth?" Athrun asked.

Dearka shrugged and then stopped in front of another dancer. "This is Holly." He said.

She was taking a break since the man who occupied the couch earlier just left. "Can I help you with anything, gentlemen?" she asked.

"Did you happen to see this man last night?" Athrun asked, showing the picture again.

She shook her head and eyed them suspiciously. Then she looked at Dearka more closely. "Hey! Dearka, who's your friend?" she asked and smiled at Athrun.

"My friend is Detective Zala who just got engaged. We're investigating a case." Dearka answered.

"Engaged huh? When's the Bachelor's Party?" she asked again with a sultry smile this time.

"Uh, not sure yet. So you don't recognize him? I'm sure you saw a lot of guys last night, we were just wondering if you happened to see him." Dearka replied.

"Oh. No I don't recognize him. Weren't you here last night though? Don't you remember?" she asked.

"Yeah but I wasn't exactly looking for him." He said.

"Okay, sorry I couldn't help." She said.

"No, you did actually, thank you." Athrun told her and smiled slightly. She smiled back and waved as they left.

"She and Sara are the main performers; you should have one of them at your Bachelor's Party, or both." Dearka said.

"I'm not exactly planning that far ahead yet, Dearka. Let's get back to Yzak and tell him the news." Athrun responded.

"Right," Dearka replied.

* * *

They arrived back at the station and found Yzak in his office looking over the ME report Athrun brought. He looked up when he heard them enter.

"Got anything good?" he asked, casting a glare Dearka's way.

"Well, no one saw Tolle last night, so it looks like we have a suspect, finally." Athrun told him.

"Well, it may seem grim, but that's good. Let's bring him back in and see where he was last night for real. You want to run a knife check on him?" Yzak replied.

"Sure, since his car matches the description and the alibi is fake, we might as well see if the murder weapon fits as well." Athrun answered.

"You really think it's that easy?" Dearka asked.

"Not really, but it's all we have. Evidence is evidence." He responded.

"I talked with Murrue about the knife; she said she recognized the serrations from an earlier case. Wanna guess which one?" Yzak said.

Athrun raised his eyebrows. "She didn't say anything while I was there. Was it in the report?" he asked.

"No, I called her up to see if she had any new information and she said while she was recording everything from the autopsy after doing the report she noticed the similar serrations from a previous case and wanted to let me know." The silver-haired man told him.

"Well what was it!?" Dearka asked, not good with waiting games.

Yzak smirked. "Remember that unsolved mugging-turned-murder case we tried to link to Rau le Creuset?"

* * *

"I wonder if the boys got any more information." Lacus said as she sat down next to Cagalli.

"Yeah, usually it takes a while to get a solid lead that takes you somewhere good. Athrun said he was going to the autopsy and Murrue mentioned the serrated knife. He also mentioned questioning Tolle and checking out his alibi. I wonder how that's going." Cagalli replied.

"That's odd. Although Nicol and Tolle did have that argument didn't they?" Lacus said.

"Oh yeah, it was a while ago though, before Kira and Athrun started dating." Cagalli said, recalling the argument.

"I don't like that this is so close to home. It doesn't feel right. Do you think we should tell Milly, Sai, and Kuzzey? They're close to Tolle as well." Lacus asked.

"Yeah, they knew Nicol and knew Kira was gay. Tolle is just a homophobe, at least that's what Kira told me after the argument." Cagalli answered.

"Right, maybe they can help. They know Tolle and would know if he would hurt someone over something like that or not. Plus, they haven't heard the good news yet, I don't think." Lacus suggested.

"Yeah, do you have Milly's number?" Cagalli asked.

Lacus checked her phone and nodded, then pressed SEND and waited.

"_Hello?" _Milly answered.

"Hey Milly, it's me Lacus. Have you heard the news?"

"_What news?" _Milly asked.

"Nicol was found dead this morning, Athrun, Yzak, and Dearka are investigating the case. Apparently Tolle might be a suspect." Lacus said.

"_What!? Just because they had that argument?" _Milly asked, angry and saddened.

"No, his car matched the description some of Nicol's neighbors told the boys. They were going to check his alibi. We haven't heard much anything else. Nicol was stabbed." Lacus told her.

"_Oh my gosh. That's terrible! The neighbors saw the car, when did this happen exactly?" _Milly asked.

"Late last night, the neighbors only could make out the back and said it looked like the newer Eclipses or Nissan 350Z, so the cops have been checking out those cars." Lacus replied.

"_Oh yeah, I heard about that. I just didn't know it was because of Nicol's murder. Did you make any arrangements?"_ Milly asked again.

"Not yet, we're waiting for his parents to come in from PLANT. We'll let you know though. Do you think Tolle would do something like this? I always thought he was nice." Lacus asked.

"_No way, Tolle wouldn't kill Nicol over a silly argument. I mean, he was mad and refused to believe Kira was gay, but he's not the person to kill anyone over anything really."_ Milly told her.

"I understand. Oh, there's more news, this time good. Kira and Athrun are engaged." Lacus said, remembering the other reason why she called.

Cagalli sat her lunch down next to Lacus's and watched as the girl continued the conversation.

"_Really? Wow I need to tell them congratulations then! It seems weird, Nicol being murdered and Kira and Athrun getting engaged. I don't know whether to be happy or sad." _Milly confessed.

"True, Cagalli and I feel the same. Hey, do you think Kira told anyone?" Lacus probed.

"_Well he didn't tell me, so maybe not. Do you think Tolle knows? Do you think that's why?" _Milly asked, getting a little defensive.

"I'm not sure, it was the same day. But you said he wouldn't do something like that, and I doubt he would as well. It just seems strange." Lacus said quickly, not wanting to anger her friend or make it look like they were blaming Tolle.

"_True, coincidence. Well, I'll call Athrun then. Let me know about the arrangements okay? Nicol was always nice, and I told him if he ever made a CD I'd be his photographer." _Milly said.

"We'll let you know, and Athrun will most likely have more information by now. I'm sorry to have to tell you, but have a good day okay?" Lacus said sympathetically.

"_I'll try, at least there's good with the bad. When one door closes, another one opens I suppose. Thanks for telling me both; you have a good day as well." _Milly replied.

"You're welcome, bye."

"_Bye."_

"So what did she say?" Cagalli asked when she hung up.

"She said Tolle wouldn't have killed Nicol, and I agree, he doesn't seem like the type of person to do something like that. But she's going to call Athrun for more information on the investigation and once we make arrangements for Nicol's funeral we should let her know." Lacus told her.

"Right. She'll pass the word around to Sai and Kuzzey, most likely. I suppose we really did hog the boys once we found out. But honestly I thought they had already told a few people before telling us." Cagalli said.

"Me too, but oh well. I guess we'll find out later how the investigation is going. Should we tell Kira Tolle is a suspect?" Lacus asked.

Kira went outside on the back porch to think while the girls talked inside, wanting to be alone. They hadn't told him anything that Athrun told them from earlier, unsure of how he would take it.

Cagalli glanced at the back door. "I don't think so, not yet anyway. If it turns out Tolle is indeed a suspect, we can, but there's no use making him suffer more and worry more until we know for sure." She finally answered.

Lacus followed her gaze. "That's fine, if it was just a misunderstanding we don't want Kira freaking out or getting even more depressed. But should we try to talk with him? We can tell him about the knife and that they have a few leads now."

"Maybe, or we could try talking about something else to get his mind off of it. Nicol was the one that really hooked him and Athrun up, and they had become good friends. This is as hard for him as it is for Athrun."

"Yes, he's become distant ever since he found out. We should try to cheer him up. He can't sit out there silent forever."

The girls glanced at each other and nodded, then began eating. Cagalli had set a plate of food down for Kira but he only nodded and didn't touch it. If Kira went on another no-eat-no-sleep depression streaks she wasn't sure if he would ever come out. She resolved to talk with Athrun about her twin, if her and Lacus can't cheer him up, Athrun should be able to.

She hoped.

* * *

"Of course, but we found the switchblade, just not the prints, and it wasn't registered to anyone, that was where we hit a dead end." Athrun said.

"We were so close too. Rau managed to slip away scotch free; we couldn't even land one of his cronies. You think this is the same thing? We've only tried to catch him on drug and women trafficking, plus weapons sales and other minor things. You think he would murder Nicol as a sign or something to us?" Dearka asked.

"Probably, although you're right, we've never investigated him for murder except that one time, and I think that was pure accident even, the only thing that tied him to it was that it was near his company and the girl who was mugged was seen leaving his building." Athrun said, recalling the facts.

"Yeah, but he denied knowing about it and made a big deal about police trying to dig into his company. But we've come close a few times, I'm sure he's irritated with us, maybe this is a sign or sort of revenge." Yzak added.

"He's taken a pretty big step then, unless he's done this before and we just haven't caught him." Dearka said.

"Which might be the case, it's hard enough to catch him at things that narrowly tie to him, so he could be involved in a lot more than we know of." Athrun said.

"I still say we screw the rules and order a full-scale run-down of him, his company, and every one of those scumbags that work for him." Yzak said angrily.

"The judge wouldn't approve it even when we had at least one lead on him, he won't approve it by us just having a hunch or thinking he could be involved. We'd need a lot of solid evidence clearly pointing him out, but if we had that we wouldn't really need a full-scale run-down." Athrun pointed out.

"That's why I said 'screw the rules'." Yzak mumbled.

"If we 'screw the rules' the evidence we get won't be usable in court, anyway." Athrun snapped.

"Anyways, Tolle's alibi is a bust and the murder weapon is most likely a switchblade. We just have to bring Tolle back in for questioning and do a check on switchblades. It would be great if we actually had the thing to know exactly what kind." Dearka said, changing the subject before fighting broke out.

"We probably would if those stupid garbage people hadn't screwed up. I think they did it on purpose just to piss me off." Athrun growled.

"Because everyone loves to piss you off, right Athrun?" Yzak drawled with a smirk.

"Well you certainly do and it's been happening a lot more recently." Athrun spat.

"Guys! Calm down! Yzak quit antagonizing Athrun. This is hard on all of us, and I know that's your usual way of dealing with things, but it's not going to work this time okay?" Dearka shouted.

The two men became silent.

"I'll run the knife check, you get Tolle in here." Yzak finally said and shooed them out of his office.

Athrun sighed and walked down the hall towards his own office. "Dearka, I want you to run the check, talk with Murrue if you have any questions. I'm going to see if we can get any dirt on Rau this time." He said without looking back.

"How did I know he was going to say that?" Dearka mumbled to himself as he stepped into his office and turned on his computer.

"This is going to be a long night."

* * *

**-Author's Note: This looks like a good place to stop, so I will. So sorry for the long wait, hopefully I'll be able to update soon but don't count on it. Although if you send me messages every five minutes to update I might just start writing the next chapter…or rip my hair out, depends on my mood. Please let me know what you think, any questions, comments, critiques or ideas are welcome, just no flames because I don't have a fireplace. Peace out!-**


	7. Chapter 7: Pointing Fingers is Rude

**Chapter 7: Pointing Fingers is Rude**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own any characters or plots from Gundam Seed, but this fictive setting and plot came from my imagination and was inspired by real events and ideas.**

_Back again! I've got a set plot, so hopefully I can stick with it now. Sorry for the long wait guys!_

* * *

Cagalli took a deep breath and walked towards the back porch, wondering how she was going to cheer up her twin brother. She hoped that talking about the upcoming wedding would help him get his mind off the murder and onto happier things; then again, it could also make things worse because of Nicol's involvement in their relationship.

She sighed and opened the door, "Kira, we need to…" she paused when she didn't see him sitting in the chair he was last sitting in. She glanced around the porch but couldn't find the brunette. "Kira?" she called out. She didn't hear an answer, so she went back inside.

"Did he come back in? I didn't notice." She said to herself and went into the living room. "Kira? Where are you?" she called out again.

"He's on the porch, isn't he?" Lacus replied from the kitchen.

"He wasn't there; did you see him come in?" Cagalli asked her as she continued searching her house.

"No. This is odd, where could he be? Oh! Maybe he's just in the bathroom." Lacus called.

"Good idea!" Cagalli called back and went upstairs to where the bathroom was. She turned the corner but the bathroom door was open with the light off, she searched the rooms upstairs and didn't see her twin. Her face twisted more with worry as she quickly descended to the living room again. "He's not upstairs." She said to Lacus with a concerned look.

Lacus looked concerned as well. She paused for a moment and then looked out of the window and into the driveway. She took a step back and then turned to Cagalli, her face growing pale.

"What is it?" Cagalli asked as she came closer.

"His car isn't here anymore, Cagalli. He left."

* * *

"Tolle is their main suspect now, as you wanted. Everything is falling into place, just like you said."

"Good, although I still can't believe that because of your foolishness I had to pull strings with the garbage company just to get the knife out. Now they're snooping around and getting suspicious. They'll fall of his trail and find another if that happens again." Rau replied angrily.

Fllay had called him earlier squawking about the detectives threatening her and the garbage crew, as well as shutting down the company on misdemeanor charges of obstructing justice, compromising an investigation, and other such threats.

"If this keeps up, they'll stumble onto even more members of my crew, which could lead to you. You realize that, don't you?" Rau continued.

"Yes, I do. I didn't have a lot of time and thought the neighbors could have noticed something, so I lit out as fast as I could. Besides, your people were supposed to clean up the area _before_ the police got there."

"_My_ people? You are a part of _my_ people, or have you forgotten? Need I remind you how and why you got involved in this whole mess to begin with?" Rau challenged.

There was only silence from the other person in the room. It continued for a moment until at last he finally spoke up.

"What's done is done; we just need to make sure they stay on Tolle."

"No, _you_ need to make sure they stay on Tolle. The more I get involved, the more reason I give Athrun to start sticking his nose in my business again. This is the plan to end it all, remember that."

"And you swear nothing will happen once this is over?"

"I promise. Your loved ones will remain safe." Rau replied smoothly.

The other nodded before leaving. Rau hid a smirk as he braced his fingers into a steeple.

"Everything is working out just as I planned. Careful Athrun Zala, you may not survive this little case, it may just be too hard for you to handle." He whispered and then laughed with exultation at his masterful revenge on Detective Athrun Zala.

* * *

"Maybe he went to see Athrun? He was so distraught, and I saw tension between them, he may have gone to speak with him." Cagalli replied, feeling the knot forming in her throat.

"And not tell us? Why would he do that? This is too dangerous, for one because he could be targeted as a suspect, and for two someone may be trying to hurt all of us. Why would he just leave?" Lacus said.

"I'm not sure, maybe he just…wanted to be alone or something. Maybe he thought we would try to stop him from leaving, so he didn't want to confront us about it." Cagalli said, although wasn't sure if she believed herself.

"Cagalli, I'm beginning to feel like something isn't right."

"What are you talking about Lacus? He just went to see Athrun, or maybe he decided to go back to their house. He probably said something and we just didn't hear it. Let's look for a note." The blond replied and began her search anew.

Lacus continued to look worried, but was beginning to believe Cagalli's words, if only half-heartedly. She didn't want to think of all the bad connotations this held; Kira being in danger, or worse…

* * *

Athrun was determined to figure this out. Something didn't settle well with him about the garbage situation. He knew there was something else going on, that the whole thing was rigged somehow. He also knew he could just be feeling paranoid and getting desperate for Rau's imprisonment, but he had to try or he knew he would regret it.

He pulled into the office parking lot and sat in his car for a moment. If he was right, things could get dangerous, and he would be even more hard-pressed to catch Nicol's killer and put him behind bars. If he was wrong, he would be pulled into a downward spiral and may never be able to solve this case.

'_Okay, so maybe those are extreme scenarios, but I hardly see any good that could come out of this.' _He thought as he sat. He sighed and got out of his car, _'Let's do this.'_

He walked into the building and made a bee-line for the front desk, where a magenta haired girl was sitting and typing at a keyboard. Something clicked in his mind, but he wasn't sure why. She didn't look up when he approached, so he cleared his throat to make his presence known.

"May I help you?" she asked in a bored tone, still not looking at him.

He took out his badge and had to hide a smirk. "Detective Athrun Zala. We spoke on the phone earlier."

She whirled around in her seat and gasped, her eyes widening a bit. His own eyes widened as he realized who he was speaking to.

Fllay Alster.

"Wh-what are you doing here? I sent the crew down to the station like you asked; now if you don't leave I'll…I'll…have you arrested for harassment!"

"I highly doubt that would work out. I came by because I was suspicious as to why there were two pick-ups within the same week coincidentally on the street of a homicide case. Although now I'm even more suspicious, Fllay, because you're involved." He replied and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh don't flatter yourself, Athrun!" she replied loudly, obviously flustered. A few other employees looked over, and one got up while Athrun was glaring at Fllay.

"I'm not; I'm just wondering why a member of Rau's group is magically involved in another of my cases, and a murder one at that of one of my personal friends. It's quite odd, don't you think?" he asked and leaned closer over the counter.

She stood and glared him down. "I have nothing to do with any of that! It must have just been a mistake, it happens sometimes. You're just trying to find anything to pin Rau! Besides, I already told you the last time that he and I do not work together anymore."

"Right and pigs have mutated wings coming out of their backs, giving them the ability of flight." He sneered.

"What?"

"Look Fllay, just tell me what's going on and I won't have to take you in."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Check your records then, and have your garbage people pick through that dump site until they find a bloody switchblade. I'm running background checks on that crew, and I'll keep my eye on you Fllay." Athrun warned.

"You need to get a warrant then. Just because you flash your badge doesn't mean we have to do everything you tell us, _Detective_." She sneered back.

He growled and left in a sour mood, but with hope fluttering in his chest that maybe he was onto something.

Or he could just be desperate and paranoid.

* * *

"Hey Yzak, have you got anything on the knife check?" Dearka called from his office.

"No, you?"

"Nothing registered to Tolle. You think we hit a dead end?" Dearka asked as he came into Yzak's office.

The silver haired man was sitting with his hand to his chin, thinking of anything to help them solve this case.

"Where did Athrun go?" Yzak asked instead of answering Dearka's question. He didn't want to think of leaving this case unsolved, like so many others mysteriously tied to Rau.

"He said something about digging up dirt on Rau." Dearka answered and shrugged.

Yzak swore and got up. "You still have that tail on Tolle?"

"Um, I think so…"

"What do you mean you think so?"

"Well I haven't heard anything."

Yzak swore again and threw his hands in the air, then pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "You're killing me Dearka, you really are. Call the tail and ask for an update before I strangle you."

Dearka hurriedly picked up his phone and dialed the cop who was supposed to be following Tolle. When he answered he quickly asked for an update. Yzak was pacing in his office and trying to calm his growing anger, half-listening to the conversation. Dearka soon came back in and didn't look very happy about it.

"Uh…we have a problem."

The glare that got sent his way made him step back and shudder a bit. He held up his hands and took a deep breath before spilling the beans.

"Tolle got away. He managed to lose the tail and now he's MIA. There's a unit looking for him, and I told them to bring him in if they find him, but it doesn't look good."

Yzak let out a string of curses, none of which Dearka would ever care to repeat, and then proceeded to throw things.

"That's my cue to leave then."

As sounds of bangs and crashes were heard from Yzak's office, Dearka slinked away and out of the building. "I…shouldn't have told him that." He said and sighed. "I guess I need to find him, maybe he really _is_ guilty."

He got in his car and headed to Tolle's house after putting the address into his GPS, since Tolle was made to provide that information when he was brought in and questioned.

* * *

Athrun's cell phone was ringing as he drove back to the base and he answered it quickly to hear Cagalli's voice.

"_Athrun? Kira left the house. He didn't leave a note and we didn't see him leave. We assumed he went to see you or something." _

"What? He shouldn't have left, it's too dangerous! How could you let him slip by you?" he asked angrily.

"_Chill! Don't get angry at me, Athrun, I'm just as worried about him. So you haven't seen him at all?"_ she asked with slight anger in her voice.

"No, but I was away from the station, so he may be waiting for me there. I'm heading back now." He replied in a calmer tone.

"_Okay, where did you go, and why are you so upset?" _she asked again, this time with worry.

He sighed again. "I went up to the garbage station because they had picked up Nicol's garbage twice in the same week and the murder weapon is gone. Something seemed fishy so I wanted to check it out myself. Listen, things could start getting dangerous, so be careful, okay?" he told her.

"_Why, what happened?"_

"I can't fill you in on everything right now, but Fllay was there. That means Rau has to be involved."

He heard Cagalli sigh on the other line and knew what was coming next. _"Athrun, you may be looking into this too deeply. It's just a coincidence she's involved."_

"It's a coincidence that Fllay just happened to be the one who answered when I called about the garbage? It's a coincidence the crew happened to clean out Nicol's garbage can _after_ the crime scene boys were there, when they had already came by that week before Nicol was even dead? It's a coincidence that Fllay is working with Rau in his illegal ring, and also happens to be Kira's ex?"

"_Athrun, you're tying all of this together because you want Rau behind bars. I'm your ex and I haven't killed anyone just because you left me for Kira. She's crazy, but not that crazy."_

"I just think it's too weird to all be unconnected. Maybe Tolle joined their group, maybe he's innocent. I have no clue right now!"

"_Athrun, just calm down and focus on the case. I know you guys can solve this. Let me know if you see Kira, okay?"_

"Alright, but I'm really worried about him Cags."

"_I know, I am too, that's why we need to find him."_

"Right, talk to you later then, and I'll fill you both in on everything later."

"_Okay, bye."_

He reached the station and scanned the lots for Kira's car, but didn't see it anywhere. His worry and suspicion grew as he entered the station. He checked into Dearka's office but didn't see the tan blond, so he glanced into Yzak's office and his eyes widened again.

"Uh, what exactly happened in here? Was there an earthquake or something?" he asked when he saw the disaster area.

"Dearka lost Tolle." Yzak growled. He was sitting at his desk again, hammering away at his computer.

"He what?"

"The tail he put on Tolle lost him somehow, so they're all chasing him down. I thought you were going to bring him in?" Yzak replied angrily and glared at him.

"I went to check into that garbage thing." Athrun told him.

Yzak went off again. "Will you just let it go? Every single case we're in you think it's Rau! Rau this, Rau that, it's too much Athrun! You're going too far with your little delusions okay?" he yelled.

"I actually have something though, but first have you seen Kira?"

"What? No!"

Athrun's worried expression paused Yzak's anger for a moment. "Is he missing or something?" he asked.

"He left Cagalli's; apparently he didn't tell them he was leaving or where he was going. She thought he came here to see me."

"Well I haven't seen him, but I've been in here…"

"…demolishing your office?" Athrun finished for him. Yzak just gave him an annoyed look.

"We can worry about him later, what did you find?"

"Fllay was there. She was the secretary I was talking to on the phone. I don't know why I didn't recognize her voice before."

"So what, is that supposed to mean anything?"

"She works for Rau, Yzak, remember? Plus she's Kira's ex. You remember how mad she was when he broke up with her for me?"

"Oh, right, well, I still don't think-,"

"Doesn't it seem fishy that she happened to stall us and give us such a hassle when we were trying to figure out why they picked up the garbage twice? Don't you think there's something going on since they did that? I doubt it's just a mistake, but even if it is, she seemed like she was hiding something. I knew she was lying when I questioned her, so I was going to get a warrant to search the-,"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" This time Yzak cut him off. "The judge won't give you a warrant."

"Maybe he will since they emptied the garbage at a crime scene."

"He'll probably just say the crime scene guys should have found it anyway, so we'd be wasting our time looking for it."

Athrun sighed and rubbed his head. The headache he'd been feeling ever since he heard the news refused to go away, and it felt like it was just getting worse.

"What's going on Yzak? Normally you'd jump on any speck of dust that pointed towards Rau, and you'd pound down the judges' door yourself to get a warrant and storm that area personally." Athrun said with a suspicion that something was off.

Yzak looked away. "I think we're chasing a ghost, Athrun, that's all. I'm sick of running around with a lead pointing to him and reaching a dead end. And honestly I don't want him to be involved in this."

"I don't either, but it fits! We've been trying to nail his ass for years, we've pissed him off and meddled with his stuff, he could be trying to get revenge on us for going after our friends."

"I just don't think Fllay has anything to do with this, or that she points to Rau."

"Wait…what?"

"She was stalling and hassling _you_, not _us_. Of course she'll be pissed at you for stealing her boyfriend, but that doesn't give her motive to kill Nicol. Besides, she's not really the 'killer' type." Yzak replied, not making eye contact.

"Yzak…"

"What?" he snapped, finally glaring at him.

Athrun's eyes narrowed until it hit him. "You've got to be kidding me. Yzak you didn't!"

"Didn't what?" he growled.

"You slept with Fllay, didn't you? That's why you're defending her!"

"So what? Dearka's off at the stripper joints all the time and humps anything he sees! I can't get back at him for it?" Yzak yelled and then got red in the face, turning away from Athrun.

The bluenette held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not getting into this with you. Right now, she's still a suspect."

"Don't worry, she has an alibi for the night Nicol was killed." Yzak mumbled.

"She what?"

"That's why Dearka went to Natarle's Angels. She may still be working for Rau, but she didn't kill Nicol. I'll uh…put some pressure on her though and get the truth out of her, but she's not the killer."

"I can't believe this…"

Yzak said nothing and Athrun left.

* * *

Dearka finally reached Tolle's apartment and checked around. He didn't see the man's car and checked his radio for the positions of the unit out looking for him. He had called in for a few cops to drop by in case Tolle was there and trying to run, but he doubted that was the case.

He got out and checked his back for his gun tucked inside his holster, although didn't think he would need it.

He went up the stairs leading to Tolle's place and knocked on the door, announcing he was police. He heard nothing from the other side and knocked again, louder this time. He didn't see any activity from either of Tolle's neighbors, and was listening for any slight sound.

He braced himself and then shoved his shoulder into the door, breaking it open. He entered with his gun out and checked the area quickly as he came in, looking for Tolle or anything that could point to his involvement, or where he might be. He went through the entire apartment but Tolle wasn't home, and he couldn't see anything that would lead him to his location.

He sighed and trudged out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. He knocked on the doors of the neighbors and asked if anyone had seen Tolle, and they all said they haven't seen him in a few hours, probably after Tolle was released from custody. '_He must have come back here when I let him go, then leave to go who knows where…'_ he thought.

He went down to the leasing office to see if maybe he decided to leave or anything, but he got nothing there as well. It seemed no one knew where Tolle was, and that lead to suspicion.

He called in and alerted the unit that Tolle wasn't at his apartment, and no one had found him yet. He got into his car and decided to head back to the station, hoping Yzak had calmed down or found anything. He wondered whether Athrun had picked up any new leads or had found the knife somehow.

* * *

Athrun was running background checks again on all the members of the garbage crew, with Fllay as an added member. Either they were all clean and this was just another dead end, or someone had erased anything bad off their profiles. If that was the case, he knew who had the resources to do something like that, and would give him more incentive to check into Rau once again.

He looked down at his cell phone and checked to see if he had any missed calls or messages. He hadn't heard form Kira since he left Cagalli's, and the nagging thought of his boyfriend missing wouldn't leave him alone.

He decided to call Kira.

* * *

"Sir, Detective Athrun Zala arrived at the office and was questioning Fllay." Stellar told Rau as she came into his office.

"What? Has he done anything?" Rau asked her.

"I don't think so, someone called to let us know the news and I haven't heard from Fllay yet." She replied.

"Get her out of there and keep an eye on his movements." He ordered. She nodded and turned to leave.

His phone rang and he answered it quickly, Fllay was yelling in his ear again, sounding more than worried.

He motioned to Stellar. "Bring him back in here." She nodded again and left.

"Yes Fllay, I know, but don't worry, he can't do anything. A judge won't give him a warrant, and even if he gets one he still won't be able to find it. We tweaked your background so he won't find anything on you, so don't worry. Clotho and the others are covered as well, just calm down and come to the office. I don't want him finding you again." he told the distressed woman on the other end of the line.

When he hung up he sighed and stood, but the phone rang again.

"What is it?" he asked into the speaker in an irritated tone.

"Tolle Koenig is here." his receptionist replied.

* * *

**-Author's Note: I'll just leave this here…**

**Don't worry, I know how the next chapter will go, and hopefully it won't take me as long to update it. Please review and tell me what you think, thanks for all the favorites and alerts, and for asking me when I'm going to update; it helps to remind me! Any questions, comments, ideas, etc. are welcome, just no flames please. Peace out!-**


	8. Chapter 8: The Confrontation

**Chapter 8: The Confrontation**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the characters or plotlines of Gundam Seed.**

* * *

"_What is it?" he asked into the speaker in an irritated tone._

"_Tolle Koenig is here." his receptionist replied._

Rau's mouth split into a wicked grin. "Is he inside?"

"_He demands to speak with you, he's in the lobby making a ruckus."_ She replied.

"Very well then, send him up."

"What now?"

"Don't speak to me in that tone. It appears we have a visitor." Rau replied.

"So? I need to-," the other began but was cut off by Rau.

"You need to be here for this. The detectives will now eventually discover I'm involved, and so I need you to…clear a few things up."

"What are you talking about? Who is it?"

Before Rau could reply, Tolle burst through the door with an angry expression.

"I know you're involved in this, but why the hell are you trying to pin this on me?" he began yelling. He had yet to notice the other person in the room. Rau was sitting at his desk, smiling.

"I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but you…what…" in the middle of his rant he caught sight of the person standing to the side of Rau's desk within the darkened room. "You? It's you!"

Rau sighed and stood. "I'm afraid you know too much now, Tolle. You should have stayed home, or at least left the country. This could have been all neat and perfect, but you decided to throw a wrench in my plans. For that, you must die. We can't have you running around and exposing our secrets, now can you?"

Tolle's expression grew from shocked to frightened. "Wait," he turned to the other. "What are you _doing_? Please tell me you're not involved in this too."

The other could only look on with a blank expression, although something in the eyes spoke of sorrow and guilt. Tolle waited expectantly for any kind of answer, looking betrayed and bewildered.

"Kill him."

* * *

"Hey…he wasn't at his apartment. Have you heard form Athrun?" Dearka asked in a submissive tone as he peeked into Yzak's office. The other man looked irritated yet calmer than before.

"Yeah he's back."

"Okay…" Dearka replied and turned to leave, then turned back quickly. "Oh, I checked with Murrue before leaving. We're right. It's the same weapon as before. Rau's weapon."

Yzak looked up with a somewhat quizzical expression, and then realization spread across his face. He got up quickly and marched to Athrun's office, Dearka following behind.

"The background checks show nothing, they must have been fixed. Someone knew we would try to snoop around. With Fllay and Clotho involved…" Athrun said as soon as they came in. He glanced from Yzak to Dearka, knowing something was up by the expression on Yzak's face; it was determination, excitement, and pure evil intent.

"You were right, Mr. Paranoid. It's Rau, definitely, Murrue confirmed the weapon as the same knife Rau always uses, and with the mugging-turned-murder case we have probable cause to have another little chat with him. Come on, let's get this scumbag."

Athrun's eyes lit up and he stood, then looked down at his phone. "Wait, I need to call Kira and see where he is."

Yzak rolled his eyes.

"Weird, he and Tolle both seem to be missing…" Dearka said and rubbed his chin.

Yzak and Athrun shared a look. "You don't think…"

"Would he try to get revenge?"

"I…Kira isn't like that."

"Then he's cheating."

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Dearka said and glanced at them wonderingly.

"Maybe they're together."

"It can't be that easy."

"Two birds, one stone."

"What are you guys talking about?" Dearka asked.

"Call him on the way, I'll drive. We need to hurry before this thing goes cold and dead forever." Yzak said and walked out quickly.

They followed him to his car, Dearka riding shotgun with Athrun in the back, and Athrun called Kira as Yzak punched it.

* * *

"Hello? Athrun?"

"_Hey, uh, where are you now?"_

"Oh, well, I was looking for you."

"_You came by the station?"_

"Yeah, but you weren't in. We seem to keep missing each other." Kira replied and chuckled a bit.

"Is that Athrun? Are you seriously doing this right now?" Tolle whispered furiously. He was being lead towards the back of the building.

Kira shot him a look and listened to Athrun's next words. _"Look, you need to just go back to Cagalli's and stay there. Things are starting to pick up and I don't want you in the middle of it."_

"What do you mean?"

"Athrun! It's him! He did it!" Tolle yelled and abruptly got punched in the gullet by Clotho.

"Shut yer gob, loser." Clotho spat.

"_I'm not at liberty to say, just please get somewhere safe."_

"Athrun…"

"_Kira, do this for me."_

"Okay. I'm on my way." Kira replied and hung up. He turned to Clotho, ignoring Tolle. "We need to hurry, I have to leave."

"Tch, whatever, let's get him to the back and do him there." He replied.

"You didn't have to come as well; I think I can handle this." Kira replied sharply.

"Yeah right, the boss told me to make sure you did it right this time."

"Kira, come on, you're not like this! How did you get wrapped up in this crap? Why are you doing this to Athrun?" Tolle pleaded.

"Shut up Tolle!" Kira yelled and turned to him. His expression held anger and sadness. "I'm sorry this has to happen, alright! You should've stayed out of things."

"Oh right and let me take the blame for Nicol's murder? I can't believe you, Kira; I can't believe you killed one of your own friends!"

"I said shut up!" Kira shouted and kneed him in the gut. Tears formed in his eyes as Tolle bent down to the ground, clutching his stomach. Clotho pulled him back up and pushed him forward, a cold smirk on his face.

"You still sure you can handle this?" Clotho asked smugly.

"You shut up too. Hurry, we don't have a lot of time." Kira growled.

They were about to round the corner when they heard a car screech to a halt in the lot. They put their backs to the wall and Clotho poked his head around the corner to see who it was.

Yzak jumped out of the car, his hand near his gun, and the other two got out quickly.

"Why'd you park back here?" Dearka asked.

"So they wouldn't know we were here. I think they'd recognize our cars, idiot." Yzak replied.

"So we're breaking into the building? We can't use this in court."

"We're not breaking in; we're playing undercover, now shut up." Yzak spat viciously and scanned the area.

Clotho grinned and turned to Kira, Tolle in-between them. "It's the detectives. This is even better, we don't have to get our hands dirty, we just have to let your buddies do him for us." He said.

Kira's eyes widened as Clotho shoved his gun in Tolle's hands and pushed him forward.

They pulled out their guns when they saw Tolle rush out with a gun in his hands.

"Tolle! Put your weapon down, now!" Athrun yelled, pointing his gun at the man.

"Wait! You need to know something!" Tolle replied, pointing the gun at them in defense.

Kira's breath caught and Clotho sneered, grabbing Kira's gun and pointing it around the corner.

"This is our last warning Tolle as police, put the gun down now!" Yzak barked.

A shot was fired towards them and Dearka dodged out of the way as Yzak and Athrun fired back.

Tolle fell to the ground, dead, as blood gushed from his wounds. His eyes were wide and staring off into the unknown.

Clotho pushed Kira back towards the doors down the narrow alley, snickering away.

Athrun sighed and brushed his hair back, a forlorn look on his face.

"It was protocol, Athrun, he was probably guilty anyway." Yzak replied.

Dearka was still on the ground, half-sitting up with an amazed look on his face mixed with fear. "He seriously shot at me." He breathed.

Yzak pulled him up and gave him a once-over to check for any wounds. "You're fine, he was a bad shot." He grumbled. "Unfortunately…"

"Hey!"

"We need to call this in, guys." Athrun said and walked towards the body.

"Oh Rau will _love_ this." Yzak leered and also went forward.

"At least he can't shoo us away this time." Dearka said as they all gathered around and stared at Tolle's lifeless form.

There was a brief moment of silence as yet another person was dead, someone they once knew.

"Kira won't be happy about this."

"What'd he say?" Yzak asked.

"He said he was at the station while I wasn't there, and so I told him to go back to Cagalli's place."

"That's odd, I still don't remember seeing him or anything, unless he talked to someone at the front desk. But wait, where was he just now if he already left the station?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

Dearka and Yzak exchanged suspicious looks but said nothing.

* * *

"Well, at least he's dead and they don't suspect anything. I'll go down and run interference, and _you_ should leave before they see you or your car." Rau told Kira.

"I know." He replied and went through the doors of the lobby quickly, glancing around.

Rau smirked. "This is working out quite nicely, don't you think?"

"Yeah boss."

"Two birds, one stone."

* * *

"Kira! You're back!" Cagalli cried when she saw him at the door. She hugged him tightly and Lacus came up with a worried expression. "Where were you? Why didn't you tell us you were leaving or where you were going?"

"I didn't want to disturb you; I wanted to see Athrun and didn't want you to try to talk me out of it. I was worried about him." Kira replied sheepishly.

"Did you see him?" Lacus asked.

"No, we just missed each other. He called and told me to come back here because things were picking up, he said."

"Oh, right, I called him earlier because I wondered if he knew where you were. Just please don't do that again, okay Kira?" she asked and hugged him again. "I was so worried."

Kira hugged her back and Lacus saw a guilty expression on his face.

"Well, you're safe now, so let's just wait until Athrun comes back. He said he'd fill us in on everything." She said.

"Yeah, I wonder what they're doing right now. He said he thought Rau was involved." Cagalli said.

Lacus furrowed her brows. "But they always think Rau is involved."

"Right, but they might have him this time. Or they could be wasting time and energy chasing after a ghost. Who knows?"

"Kira? Are you okay?"

* * *

"What's going on here? What are you three doing here?" Rau asked with a dark look as he came up to the detectives.

"Any particular reason why Tolle Koenig happens to be here, Rau?" Yzak asked with an even darker expression.

"That's 'sir' or 'Mr. Creuset' to you, _Detective Joule_. And I don't know this man. Is there any reason why he's lying dead in my back lot?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"That's what we're trying to find out. We'll need to ask you a few questions." Athrun replied.

"What were you doing here anyway? I don't remember calling the police for anything."

"We came here to speak with you about a few things, and found Tolle here as well." Dearka said. Their method was to team up on him, and they hoped it would work.

"Was he dead or alive?" he sneered back.

"He was alive, but that's not any of your concern right now, _Mr._ Rau le Creuset." Yzak sneered right back. The two stared at each other darkly for a moment. Before becoming a detective, Yzak was employed under Rau and once revered him, even calling him Commander as an acknowledgement of his leadership. But things turned sour and Yzak joined Dearka and Athrun on the right side of the Law.

"He's on _my_ property, suicide by cop or not, I have a right to know what went down." Rau finally said.

"Well we can either tell you in your office or at the station." Dearka replied, stepping a bit closer to Yzak.

Rau took note of this and smiled. "Of course, come this way."

A unit was already there dealing with the body of Tolle and examining the scene. Murrue glanced up from Tolle's form to watch the detectives follow Rau inside.

"Look, we know you're involved in Nicol's murder, and this time we're not just pointing fingers. We have evidence." Yzak said as he leaned over Rau's desk. Dearka nudged him and he pulled back a bit.

Rau was still smiling. "You always have evidence, but it's never enough now is it?"

"Just tell us what your plan is so we can lock you up, bastard." Yzak growled.

Athrun pulled him back further and stepped in to take his place. "What were you doing on the night of June 5th?" he asked.

"Hmmm, that was a few days ago, correct? Let me see, I'm not sure I remember."

"Don't play with us Rau." Athrun growled.

"I was working, you can check the logs."

"Yzak." Athrun said, still staring at Rau.

"What? Why do I-,"

"Yzak."

Yzak snarled and left, Dearka looked after him but stayed put in Rau's office.

"By the way, I heard you were getting married to that young Kira. Congratulations." Rau said.

"That's none of your business, who'd you hear that from?"

"Oh, just…around. He must be worried about you."

"Stop changing the subject." Dearka cut in. "Let's go back to a previous case, another one involving murder and, oh guess what? One of your weapons."

"I don't seem to recall any of that."

"It was a mugging that turned into a murder and a specialty switchblade was found at the scene. Coincidentally it was right here, in your front parking lot. Gee, this is awfully close to what happened in your back lot a moment ago, now isn't it?" Dearka said angrily.

"Are you confessing to murder, Dearka?" Rau asked with a smug look.

"No, but would you care to?" Dearka asked heatedly and Athrun pulled him back again before he got out of control.

"No thank you, and this time a man was killed on my premises with a gun, and unless you were trying to mug him as well I don't see any correlation. Besides, I thought we were discussing your other friend's murder, Nicol was it? Tsk, tsk, you seem a bit confused, detectives."

Dearka growled low in his throat but was held back by Athrun. "The point is that the knife wounds in Nicol's murder just happen to match the knife wounds in that case as well. That means the same knife was used in both cases, and we all know that you have a specialty switchblade used in all your little dirty deeds. The connection is that the knife in both cases is also a specialty switchblade. Is that a coincidence, Dearka?"

"I don't think so. Besides, we have two of your known associates involved as well. Do you think it's odd for a garbage company to do two runs on the same street twice in a row? Especially at the house of a crime scene investigation where a man was murdered? With the murder weapon missing, that could prove a hard case to crack."

"Perhaps it was an accident." Rau replied smoothly.

"Funny, that's what Fllay said." Athrun said and crossed his arms.

"His alibi checks out." Yzak said as he walked back in.

"Like I said, I had nothing to do with this murder case. As for the knife situation, it seems you're scrounging around for any evidence that could possibly point in my direction. The garbage situation is not my field, it's your job to figure that out, and so I still wonder why you're questioning me at all. In fact, do you plan on questioning me about a murder case without my lawyer present?" Rau replied.

"Are you guilty? If not you don't need a lawyer, besides, we're simply having a discussion in your office, no one's arresting you…yet. When that time comes, we'll be happy to call your lawyer in." Athrun told him.

"For now though, we'll settle for searching this entire building for incriminating evidence. Oops, I mean the murder weapon used in Nicol's case and another unsolved case with the safe weapon involved." Yzak added.

"Come back with a warrant, if you can get one. If this little chat is through, I have business to take care of." Rau said.

"Oh but we're not done here, we still need to discuss what just recently happened in your back lot." Dearka responded.

"Yes, please explain why a man is dead on my property."

"What was he doing on your property to begin with?"

"I don't know, I already told you I was unaware of his presence here."

"It's not good to lie to the police, Rau. Your secretary confirmed he was here and came up to speak with you, plus we have it all on your security cameras." Yzak spoke up.

"What? How did you get that? You can't use that in court!"

"Part of the investigation, _sir_, since you requested an interest in knowing why he was here. It's procedure, which means you can't stop us." Athrun answered. He shot Yzak a look who nodded back with a smirk.

Rau looked genuinely annoyed now and stood. The men straightened and sent him a level look.

"And now I request you leave and take your investigation elsewhere. And take the body with you as well." He growled.

"What's the matter, you ran out of hiding places for it?" Yzak cracked.

Rau glared at him and Yzak smirked back. "We'll continue this later, most likely at the police station in an investigation room."

"Well that went well."

"At least we got to shake him up a bit. Good work Yzak." Athrun replied to Dearka's sullen comment.

"Yeah." Yzak replied.

"Are we going to get that warrant?"

"Of course, let's go."

* * *

**-Author's Note: So now you guys know who it is, was it a surprise? How do you like it so far? Please let me know what you think, any questions, ideas, comments, and critiques are welcome. I'll try to update again quickly. Peace-**


	9. Chapter 9: Break in the Case

**Chapter 9: Break in the Case**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny nor its characters.**

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You want _another_ search warrant for Rau le Creuset? How many times are you boys going to attempt to convict him?" the judge replied.

"But sir—," Yzak began.

"Now I can't justify giving you another warrant, not after the countless other times you've asked for one and nothing turned up. I know you think something is up, but we can't prosecute a man based on your gut feelings, we need evidence." The judge continued.

"Which is why we need a warrant to search his facility!" Yzak said exasperatingly.

The judge sighed. "Tell me again what little you have to go on this time?"

"The murder weapon is the same as used in other crimes, including another homicide case. Two of his known associates work for the garbage company that did two runs within a week, the second run right after Nicol was murdered. It's not a coincidence that we couldn't find the weapon the next day. He's trying to cover it up." Athrun told him.

"But do you have anything linking to _him_ personally? DNA, alibi, witnesses?" the judge asked.

The men shared a look. "No, but—,"

"Then I'm sorry, but I can't help you. It sounds like he's getting other people to do these things for him, so I suggest going after _them_ before trying to tackle the big guy."

"But we know he's involved!" Dearka exclaimed.

"Then prove it by getting the man who actually killed your friend, detectives. If you get his men, you'll get him. You have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Walk before you run, boys, walk before you run." The judge ordered and waved them off.

They sighed and trudged out of the chambers, looking disappointed and frustrated.

"This is just great. We have a lead but now we can't even get a warrant!" Yzak shouted and kicked the wall.

"I guess we just have to do what he said. Let's start small." Athrun replied.

"We'd have to start from the beginning again. We have little to go on, and even though everyone knows Rau is involved—whether he physically killed Nicol or not—we can't lay a finger on him. This is bogus!" Dearka cried.

"We know who his men are. Clotho is one of them, why don't we bring him back in?" Athrun suggested.

"The last time we brought him in we got nothing." Yzak grumbled.

"But wait, did you check the employee records for that garbage company?" Dearka suddenly asked.

"Um, no, I was too busy arguing with Fllay." Athrun replied with a guilty expression. He shot a quick glance toward Yzak who glared at him.

Dearka didn't notice as he said, "What if they were put there by Rau to be the ones to pick up the murder weapon? It's happened before. Check when they started working there."

"They?" Yzak asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well yeah, Fllay was the receptionist. She's the one that hassled Athrun. Clotho was the driver, who picked up the weapon, and Fllay was the stalling agent. It's perfect!" Dearka replied.

"If we can find the evidence to prove their involvement. I may have to get a warrant for the company records, and we all know the judge won't give it to us." Athrun mumbled.

"Sometimes companies _want_ to help." Dearka said, lifting his eyebrow.

"Not if they're working with Rau." Yzak countered.

"They may not be working with him, necessarily. They may not even be aware Fllay and Clotho are working for him." Dearka retorted.

"Then how were they both hired? It's too risky; he had to have a hand in it to get them in." Athrun said.

"Maybe they don't actually work for the company? They could be free-lancers." Dearka replied with a shrug.

"Free-lance garbage crews? Come on, Dearka, that's a bit far-fetched." Yzak said disbelievingly.

"Well…Fllay could be a temp! And Clotho could have taken out the driver or something!" Dearka exclaimed, grasping at straws.

Yzak and Athrun both groaned. "Alright, I'll go back."

"Actually, Athrun, maybe I should go. Fllay could slap harassment charges on you." Yzak said, giving him a knowing look.

"It's _my_ idea, why don't I go?" Dearka asked.

"No!" Yzak shouted. "I mean, you stay here in case anything turns up. I used to work for Rau, remember? I know what to look for."

"I don't like you getting involved with that again, especially considering your past. Plus Fllay's a slut who'll just try to get in your pants." Dearka mumbled.

Athrun coughed and slowly started edging his way out of the room, knowing where this conversation was headed and wanting no part in it. But Yzak was right, if he came back Fllay could cause a ruckus and they would get nowhere. Plus, since she and Yzak had an affair, he would be the right guy for the job, even with his background.

Yzak twitched and tried to calm himself. Dearka gave him an odd look. Athrun sighed and spoke his mind. "Look, Dearka, he's the right person for this. He has ties to both Rau and Fllay, so he could get the information without necessarily going by the book, regardless. If I go back they'd only shut me out for bothering Fllay. If Rau's involved, Yzak would be able to find out."

Dearka grudgingly submitted, although eyed Yzak cautiously. "Fine."

"I'll go speak with Murrue about Tolle's autopsy." Athrun said quickly and got out of dodge.

"Look, we need to talk—," Dearka began when he was alone with Yzak.

"Not now, Elsman." Yzak said and also left.

* * *

"What does it look like, doc?" Athrun asked. He knew Tolle was killed by the shots he and Yzak fired, but what he was really asking was whose it was.

"One bullet nicked him in the side, bruising a rib. The other hit him in the chest, lodging inside. That's what killed him." She told him.

He nodded, swallowing hard. He remembered his and Yzak's angles when they shot at Tolle, trying to determine who shot where.

Murrue picked up the bullet and showed it to him. "Definitely a service weapon. Judging by the angle he was shot at, one of you had to be standing and shot him point blank, while the other was kneeling a bit and shooting toward his stomach." She added.

He closed his eyes. Yzak was kneeling next to Dearka, half-covering him for protection, when he shot at Tolle. "It was me, then." He said and took out his gun, opening it to show her the cartridge.

She took his gun and glanced from the bullet to the load. Looking back up at him, she nodded gravely. "This bullet came from this gun. I'm sorry, Athrun."

"It's…I know. We couldn't stop him." He murmured, half to himself. He would have to tell Kira, who wouldn't be happy to know his fiancé shot his best friend.

"There's something else, though." Murrue said, snapping him back to the moment.

"What?" he asked, gazing at her quizzically.

"The lab tech checked the gun Tolle was carrying, but it hadn't let out a discharge. It wasn't fired at all, all the bullets were still inside." She told him.

"But that doesn't make sense, Dearka was almost shot! Didn't they recover the bullet?" he asked, worry creasing his features. This wasn't good.

"Yes, but it wasn't from Tolle's gun. The bullet didn't match. There was someone else who shot at Dearka. According to the angles again, the shot didn't come from Tolle's direction, but slightly to the right, or what would have been his left. Does that make any sense?"

"So you're saying Tolle never actually shot at Dearka, and we killed him by accident?" Athrun whispered. He began to shake as the realization of what he'd done entered his mind. Kira would be pissed.

"Athrun, think. Was there anyone or anything else next to Tolle? Did you see anything?" Murrue asked.

"Um…well he came running around a corner, to the side of him was the wall leading to the back entrance. It was on our right, which would be his left. Do you think someone could have shot at Dearka from around that corner? That doesn't make sense, unless…"

"Unless he was set up, and you were _supposed_ to kill him."

"Oh no…" he breathed. "Someone must have pushed him out…someone must have given him that gun to make us…but why? Who?" he asked, although knowing Rau had something to do with it.

"The lab is checking prints. Tolle's would be on there, but if there's another set we might know who actually shot at Dearka. That would at least give you guys a lead in the right direction. You could arrest whoever tried to shoot Dearka for attempting to murder an officer." Murrue suggested.

"I just can't believe it…" Athrun said, finding it hard to breathe. "I have to tell the others." He said and quickly left after thanking her.

She watched him go and sighed, looking back at Tolle's body. "You were just a scapegoat, weren't you dear?" she mumbled and shook her head. A tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the table. Her hands gripped the steel frame so tightly they shook.

* * *

Kira sat staring at the wall, his eyes blank. Tolle was dead, and it was all his fault. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. He didn't like it, but Tolle should have just been arrested for Nicol's death. He was never supposed to die. It was the only way Kira would have gotten free, finally, from Rau's grip. It was the last act.

But now he would never be able to get away. Rau would throw him at Athrun, just to rub it in his face even more. Either that or they'd get Clotho, and that would lead them to Rau, and they would eventually find out about him. He imagined how Athrun would find out.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he knew he had to do something; he had to change the direction of their future. He didn't want Athrun to find out this way. He wanted to have a chance to explain everything. He didn't want Rau's smug expression to be staring at Athrun when he heard that he was the one that killed Nicol. He didn't want Rau to get the satisfaction of knowing he had destroyed everything. He didn't want Athrun to give in to him. He needed to tell him why he had to do it. He needed to tell him what happened that night. He couldn't let Athrun feel guilty anymore. He had to know the truth. Even if it would hurt. It was the least he could do.

Kira stood, deciding to turn himself in. He would beat Rau to the punch. He would tell them it was Clotho who shot the gun, not Tolle. He would tell them Rau's plan of framing Tolle for Nicol's murder. He would tell them everything.

This time, he would watch Rau burn.

* * *

Yzak approached the garbage company in civilian gear, leaving his gun and badge behind in his car. He wouldn't need them for this. He did, however, need the recording device tucked safely inside his pocket. When he walked inside he looked for Fllay. She smiled, quickly jumping out of her seat to greet him.

"Hey stud, back for more?" she asked seductively, clinging to his arm.

"Kind of." He replied.

"What do you mean, 'kind of'?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I need to ask you a few questions. Off the record."

She seemed to think it over, and then shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

"How long have you been working here, Fllay?" he asked.

"Um…why?" she asked, hesitating.

"Fllay, just answer the question. Don't worry, you won't get in trouble." He said reassuringly.

"Are you still with Rau?" she asked, surprised.

He put his finger to his lips and said "Shhh." His wink made her smile.

"Just recently. That was a good one, wasn't it? Picking up the garbage?" she said and laughed.

His mouth twitched. He tried not to slam her into the wall, but she was giving him the information he needed. He had to press her for more.

"So Rau set you up with this?" he asked.

She gave him an odd look. "You would know, wouldn't you?" she countered.

"I'm not in on this, just curious. I could help get Athrun and Dearka off your trail, as well as anyone else Rau has working this job." He hinted.

"Oh, well, just me and Clotho. He did the extra pick-up, and I was there to receive Athrun's angry call. He's so rude, that jerk." She said, crossing her arms angrily.

"You know they can check the employee records to see how long you've been working here, right? They'd know something was up if you two only recently started working here." He told her.

"Oh, that's right. I'll get rid of it." She said dismissively.

"Actually, how about I do it? Athrun is already onto you, he'll try to find out where you hid it. If I took it they'd never know." He said and smirked.

"Do you mind if I just confirm with Rau first?" she asked.

He hesitated. If she called Rau, he'd know what he was up to and tell her. "Well that's why I'm here. He told me to take care of things."

"I thought you weren't supposed to be involved?" she said, frowning.

"Yeah, well, since Athrun is closing in, he wanted me to make a surprise entrance. This is all I'm doing, just fixing up loose ends." He told her.

She seemed a bit wary. "Loose ends?" she squeaked.

"Don't worry, you're fine. It's just that things aren't going as smoothly as he wanted, so he figured I could help." He said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Alright, come with me then, I know where they keep everything." She said and led him to the back. She pulled open a few drawers until she found the right records. Taking out the recent employee manifest, she handed it to him.

"Thanks for helping out. Athrun and Dearka will be so shocked to know you're still working behind the scenes for Rau." She said and smiled, giggling a bit.

His mouth twitched again and he tried to smile back. He thought about asking who actually killed Nicol, but she would only doubt whether he was really working for Rau or not again. He would know who the killer was if he actually _was_ back with Rau. She was already suspicious, and he only had a short time before she blabbed to Rau. He could imagine the torrent of curses she would hear on the other line, unless she saw him personally. He might just ring her neck. He managed a smile at that.

"Alright, this was all I have to do. Thanks Fllay." He said, genuinely happy with his scheme.

"Wait! Don't you want to hang out? I'm on break." She said and batted her eyelashes.

"Um…" he really shouldn't. If Dearka found out he'd be pissed, and they were already treading a rocky road with their relationship. "I don't know."

"What else do you have to do?" she asked, pouting.

"Well I have to hide this, and then I have to return to the station in case Athrun or Dearka get suspicious. I'll see you later, alright? When this is all over." He told her, knowing that one way or the other he would keep his promise.

She looked disappointed but flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Okay then, see you later."

He nodded and left quickly, hoping she wouldn't call Rau right away. He figured she would just assume he would let him know he got the records, so it may be a while before Rau found out. At least he hoped.

* * *

"You were right, Dearka." Yzak said as he came into the station. He paused at the look on the other man's face and turned to see Athrun also looking grave. "What's going on?" he asked, worry gripping his gut. _'Does Rau already know? Is someone else dead?'_ he thought.

"I spoke with Murrue about Tolle. Looks like things weren't as simple as suicide by cop." Athrun muttered.

"What?" he breathed, laying the paper on the table before he dropped it.

"The gun Tolle was carrying still had all its bullets inside. He wasn't the one that shot at me." Dearka told him.

"Then who? How is that possible?" Yzak asked.

"Murrue thinks it was someone hiding behind the corner he came running out of. The angle wasn't right for him to have shot at Dearka, anyway. Plus the lab tech said the bullet found near Dearka didn't match the gun on Tolle." Athrun said.

"Well then who shot Tolle?" Yzak asked, hoping whoever shot at Dearka was also the one who killed Tolle, so he or Athrun wouldn't feel guilty.

But the look on Athrun's face told him everything. "Me." The bluenette said. "And it wasn't even…he wasn't the one…it was a mistake. I killed him."

"Athrun, you were just doing your job. You were protecting me." Dearka said to reassure him.

"Yeah, we both shot him, maybe we both—," Yzak began but Athrun shook his head.

"No, your bullet just grazed his ribs. Mine was the one that got him. You were kneeling next to Dearka and I was standing. I have to tell Kira…"

Yzak sighed. "Well, at least something good turned up. Look, I got Fllay to give me the employee record. She and Clotho were put in by Rau just recently, solely for this job." He said, pointing at the paper.

Dearka took it, reading it over. "And how did you manage to do that?" he asked, an edge to his voice as he looked up at Yzak from the top of the paper.

Yzak pulled the tape recorder out. "Like this." He said and pressed the play button.

When they were done listening, Dearka shook his head. "That was too risky. He's gonna find out."

"At least you were right. Let's bring Clotho in." Athrun said.

"Why not both of them? Fllay could have done it." Dearka said.

Yzak went to reply but Athrun spoke first. "I, uh, already checked her alibi. She wasn't at Nicol's that night." He didn't want Dearka to find out where she really was that night, for Yzak's sake.

"Then where was she?" Dearka asked, glaring at Yzak.

Athrun put his hands up and left, looking at Yzak apologetically.

"She was with me. Didn't you hear, Dearka?" he said, although without his usual cocky manner.

"I knew it! I knew you were cheating!" Dearka exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

"Oh and like you haven't been sneaking out to the strip clubs every night? What the hell do you expect me to do?" Yzak burst.

"If you weren't so damn cold all the time I wouldn't go elsewhere!" Dearka yelled back.

Athrun tried not to listen as he walked away, but they were speaking so loud that the whole station could hear. Awkward looks and coughs accompanied the quiet shuffling of others either leaving the area or moving closer to hear.

"Detective Zala! We have the prints off that gun." A lab tech called as he rushed over.

"Yeah? Who is it?" he asked, hope lighting his eyes.

"Clotho Buer, the garbage guy you had in." he replied, handing him the results and background check. Clotho was already in the system because of other crimes committed under Rau's watch.

"Yes! Thanks, I appreciate it." He said. The guy nodded and went back to his lab station.

He didn't want to get in the middle of Dearka and Yzak's fight, so he went alone to the judge's quarters. He slapped the paper down with a smug look. "I need a warrant for his arrest, for shooting at a detective."

The judge nodded, smiling slightly.

* * *

Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak were standing outside when Clotho pulled up in the dump truck. Dearka and Yzak still sent each other glares, but they all stared hard at the man as he stepped down.

"What do you idiots want? Still don't understand the garbage system?" he leered.

"Clotho Buer, you're under arrest for attempting to murder a police officer by gunshot." Athrun said and began cuffing him. (1)

"What! The hell are you talking about?" Clotho exclaimed as Athrun read him his rights.

Yzak smirked at him. Dearka glanced at the office and saw Fllay's surprised expression. He glared at her, flipping her off. Yzak noticed but said nothing.

* * *

"Sir, there's been a mistake…something's happened!" Fllay said frantically into the phone.

"_What happened? What's going on Fllay? Are the detectives still bothering you about the garbage situation? Damnit I knew you fools couldn't handle the job!"_ he yelled into the phone.

Fllay was sobbing as she replied. "Yzak came in earlier, asking about when we were hired—," she began.

"_Please tell me you didn't give him the records!"_

"I'm sorry, sir, he said he was working with you again, so I…I…I told him you put us here just recently. I gave him the papers because he said that you told him to take care of it. Now they're arresting Clotho! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" she cried.

"_Fllay you idiot! You should have called me first! Why do I have to do everything myself?"_ he shouted and hung up.

She wrapped her arms around herself and wailed. Some of the other office workers came over to see what was wrong, while the others were staring out of the window and watching Clotho get arrested, whispering to themselves.

* * *

"While we have him, why don't we put him in a line-up? Maybe Nicol's neighbors can identify him as the one who came to Nicol's house." Athrun asked.

"There isn't a car like the one reported registered to him, though." Dearka pointed out.

"We can worry about that later. What do you think?" Athrun asked.

"There's nothing to lose, we already have him for shooting at Dearka. He's doing time, for sure. We've almost got Rau now." Yzak said.

"You know they'll get out of it." Dearka muttered.

"Maybe not, he could have screwed up. Rau might not want to save him. I know he'll be pissed at Fllay once he finds out about the employment records." Yzak told him. Dearka shrugged.

"Let's do it, call them in."

* * *

Kira hugged Cagalli and Lacus. "I'll feel safer at the station with Athrun." he told them.

"But he wants you to stay here. The police are still searching for the car, and you have the same one. They might think you're the killer!" Cagalli said, concerned.

His throat tightened but he smiled. "It's okay, Athrun said to just tell them I was with him and they'll understand. I need to go be with him, I don't want to lose him."

"Just be careful, Kira." Lacus said. They both watched him as he left.

As he was driving his phone rang. He glanced at the caller id before answering. "What is it, Rau?" he asked in a hard tone.

"_Your buddies are cleverer than I first thought, Kira. I'm sorry, but things just aren't working out. They've arrested Clotho. By now they know he and Fllay were working for me, which will lead them to you."_ Rau replied in an angry tone.

Kira smirked, knowing where this was going, just as he predicted. "Yeah, they might also find out that he was the one who made them shoot Tolle."

"_How would they know that? Kira, you're not going to squeal."_

"I'm going to the station, Rau, to tell Athrun. I'm telling him everything, and you'll be right where you belong." He growled and hung up. He knew Rau would come after him. He had to be quick, before it was too late. He had to tell Athrun first, before anything else. He didn't care what happened to him, but Athrun had to know the truth.

* * *

The witnesses were in the viewing room, on the other side Clotho was in a line-up with a few other people. The room was dark, so they could simulate the situation they would have seen him in if he were Nicol's killer.

"Hmm, I don't know." Martha said.

"Yeah, they don't appear slim enough." The man added.

The detectives shared a look, frowning. They had hoped the witnesses would be able to place Clotho at the scene to end this once and for all.

"Do they need to turn around? Would seeing them in the spotlights help?" Athrun asked.

"No, it would be harder if it wasn't dark. None of them have the right hair, well, that one might, but something's…off." The man told them, pointing at Clotho.

"Yeah, he's not the right size, but it's hard to tell." Martha said.

The detectives sighed. "Alright, that's fine. Thank you for your time." Athrun said and showed them out.

As they left the room Kira was walking toward them, a cop at his side, and he passed beneath a shadow in the hallway.

"Oh! That looks like him!" Martha squeaked and pointed at Kira.

The man squinted where she was pointing. "Yeah, same height and size!" he declared, nodding to the woman. "What car does he drive, do you know detectives?" he asked.

Athrun paled, unable to speak. Yzak frowned and Dearka looked sympathetic.

"A Mitsubishi Eclipse. Are you sure he's the one you saw at Nicol's that night?" Yzak said, staring hard at Kira. His gut told him he was looking at a killer.

"Yes, and I've seen him at Nicol's house before, in the daylight. I'm sure of it." The man said. Martha nodded her assent.

They all looked to Athrun, who was staring at Kira. His fiancée's expression made him start shaking his head. "No…no, Kira…no." he breathed and started backing up.

Kira looked at him sadly when he stopped in front of them. "Athrun…we need to talk."

* * *

**-Author's Note: Uh oh…looks like things are getting close! I'm happy to say there is only one more chapter left, unless I decide to make the epilogue a whole other chapter. Please review and let me know what you think! If there are any details that need to be cleared up, or any questions you may have, please feel free to ask! I don't have any experience with law enforcement, so most of this is just from shows like NCIS, Law and Order, etc, or books I've read (Tami Hoag is a wonderful detective/thriller series author!). If I got something wrong, I want to know so I can try to fix it, so please help me out if you can!**

**(1) Not sure if this is the correct wording, but it's close enough. Peace-**


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